A few interesting facts on the benefits of Buying American.
(Read more: Why Americans should “Buy Canadian”)
Buying local, in one's own community, makes the best economic and environmental sense. (Why Buying Local is Worth Every Cent). Sometimes we also need to search farther to find a specific product or the latest green innovation.
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) 1 recommends utilizing regional materials for building projects. These locally harvested or manufactured products are defined as being within 800 kilometers (500 miles) of the project site. 2 With an "estimated 75% of Canadians living within 161 kilometers (100 miles) of the US border" 3, buying both Canadian and American building products (closest to the project) reduces the environmental footprint. There are also economic advantages in Buying Canadian and American products as compared to going further afield.
"Forty percent of Canada's economy is trade and more than 70 percent of that trade is with the U.S. So where the U.S. economy goes, so too does Canada. There's an old adage that every time the U.S. economy sneezes Canada catches pneumonia."
Trade Between Canada and the US has More than Doubled Since 1990
"Trade between Canada and the United States now amounts to over $600 billion a year, or over $1.3 million per minute. Canada-US trade has more than doubled since 1990. In 2002, over 80 percent of Canadian exports of goods and services were destined for the United States, 10 percentage points more than in 1990. The portion of Canadian imports of goods and services coming from the United States has also increased over this period, edging up to the current share of over 70 percent."
Canadian Exporters are Seeing Higher Demand from the U.S.
"The survey found that 80 per cent of exporters indicated that orders from their U.S. customers increased or remained the same during the past six months, compared to 75 per cent last fall. This is a strong and growing signal that the U.S. recovery is having an impact on Canadian export sales."
"Some new form of integrated "buy North American" rules would be the best-case scenario. Canadian producers would be able to sell into the American market with less competition from corporations operating in countries with poor labour, human rights, and environmental standards. Conversely, American producers would be able to do the same in Canada. This could be win-win for Canadian and American workers. If the "Buy American" policy works and puts more Americans back to work and strengthens the American economy, that will be good for Canadian manufacturers who make products consumed by Americans."
Protectionism May Negatively Impact Economic Growth
"The World Trade Organisation has raised the spectre of growing protectionism as the latest threat to the struggling global economy as it warned that the threat of tit-for-tat trade wars loomed larger than at any time since the start of the financial crisis in 2007. As long as global economic weakness persists, protectionist pressure will build and could eventually become overwhelming", Lamy said after announcing that the WTO had cut its forecast for 2013 global trade growth from 4.5% to 3.3%. "The threat of protectionism may be greater now than at any time since the start of the crisis, since other polices to restore growth have been tried and found wanting. To prevent a self-destructive lapse into economic nationalism, countries need to refocus their attention on reinforcing the multilateral trading system," he added."
"Introduced in Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the concept of "reciprocity" is simple -- if someone does something for you, you naturally will want to do something for them. No, this isn’t bribing. If you can act in a sincere and giving way, the other person will naturally want to help you."
"Nearly half of Canada's GDP growth since 2005 has been driven by housing-related industries, to the point that the finance, insurance and real estate sector makes up about 27 per cent of the country's GDP, he said."
1. http://www.usgbc.org/leed
2. http://www.usgbc.org/credits/retail-commercial-interiors/v10-pilot/mrc51
3. http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/canada-facts/
(And also a bonus would be for Canadians to be allowed to buy more Canadian!)
Time for a Free Trade Zone Within Canada
“Moore says the practices (restrictive trade within Canada) are costing tens of billions of dollars a year - one study has estimated it at $50 billion - in lost business opportunities and lost jobs, in addition to added costs and less choices for consumers from restricting movement of products. Canadians are pretty stunned at the scale of trade barriers we have in this country, the consequences it has for economic growth and the pitiful arguments that exist for the trade barriers.”
