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So,
You Want to Sell to Canada,
Eh?
Canada
represents the clear market of
choice for Michigan business.
Our trade ties are deep,
nurtured by the automotive
industry and physical
proximity. Little known
trade facts include:
Detroit,
Michigan - Windsor, Ontario
- Michigan is Canada's
second largest trading
partner.
- Michigan exports more to
Canada than Europe.
- Michigan exports more to
Canada than Asia combined.
- Bilateral trade exceeds
$50 Billion annually.
- Bilateral trade exceeds
GDP of most countries.
- The Ambassador Bridge is
the busiest US Port of
Entry.
To learn more,
please click on the Bridge.
Port
Huron, Michigan - Sarnia,
Ontario
The new second
span of the Bluewater Bridge
will be made up of the
following materials:
- 31 miles of steel
foundation piles;
- 31,000 cubic yards of
concrete
- 5.3 million pounds of
reinforcing steel
- 22 million pounds of
structural steel.
To learn more,
please click on the Bridge.
Sault
Ste. Marie, Michigan -
Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario
Sault Ste.Marie comprises
the third port of entry
between Michigan and Canada.
Although significantly smaller
than either the Ambassador
Bridge or the Bluewater Bridge
in amount of traffic, it
provides a vital link for
goods moving into Canada's
Western Provinces as well as
interlake waterborn commerce.
For additional information on
Sault Ste. Marie, please click
on the Bridge.
Despite the long history of
trade and the perceived ease
of market access, things have
changed significantly.
The Dollar differential
coupled with the Canadian
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
and the Provincial Sales Tax
(PST) means that your product
will have an immediate uplift
in price of in excess of 50%
as soon as it crosses one of
the three bridges pictured in
this article. This
has made "strategic
alliances" a more viable
means of market entry.
NAFTA has made the US-Canada
border somewhat transparent
eliminating duties. If
you talk to many exporters,
they will tell you that the
documentation requirements are
far from easy. To learn
more about export
documentation requirements,
please click here.
U.S.-Canada trade has more
than doubled over the 1990s:
- More the $1 billion in
trade crosses the
U.S.-Canada border every
day.
- In 1990, exports to
Canada amounted to close
to $83 billion dollars and
increased to $176 billion
in 2000, an average annual
growth of 8%.
- Imports from Canada, on
the other hand, grew by
close to 10% per year in
the 1990s, reaching $229
billion in 2000.
Cross-border truck traffic
has increased substantially
between 1994 and 2000...
- In 1994, close to 5
million trucks crossed the
Canada-U.S. border.
By 2000, the number of
truck crossings had increased
to 7 million, an increase of
40% in just 6 years.
…but only a few crossing
points handle most of the
traffic
- Close to 70% of the
traffic passed through
Michigan and New York.
- The three busiest border
crossings account for
nearly half of all
cross-border truck
traffic.
This article will explore
the critical aspects of the
Canadian Market which should
account for between 10 and 20%
of the revenue stream for most
US Companies. Ten
percent is the traditional
figure based upon the direct
comparison of population bases
between the US and Canada.
Twenty percent is the more
optimistic figure based upon
the geographic proximity
enjoyed by Michigan companies.
Topics explored will be:
As part of our on-going
effort to provide easy-to-use
information for your clients,
CS Canada is pleased to
provide you with two new
"video factsheets."
The first is a general
overview of why a client
should consider exporting to
Canada. The link is:
http://www.docsinbox.net/Factsheets/canadabiz.html
The second is a video fact
sheet on the Mining Industry
in Canada. The link is:
http://www.docsinbox.net/Factsheets/miningcanada.html
New links are being added
weekly, and will cover a
variety of industries. The
complete list of available
Video Factsheets is at the
following link:
http://www.docsinbox.net/Factsheets/Factsheets.html
These fact sheets can be
best viewed by using Windows
Media Player 9.0 or above. If
you need to upgrade your
player, you can download a
free upgrade at the following
link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e0175119-9a5b-44c3-b1de-9b2a9aa6cff6&DisplayLang=en
Other articles of interest
for exporters to Canada
include:
Date Updated: March 27, 2007
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