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Raw Materials and the Export Economy
Supplying the United States economic machine
Canada’s economy remains heavily dependent on exporting raw materials and is one of the most export dependent economies of the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrialized countries. Exporting goods and services makes up over 40% of Canada’s overall economic activity and the majority goes to the United States.
Exporting Raw Materials
A big part of the export industries involve selling raw materials: lumber, agricultural products, minerals, energy, and so on. According to Statistics Canada, nearly 30% of all exports are agriculture and fishing, energy, or forestry products.
In 2002, these were the export figures…
- Agriculture & Fishing: $30,541.6 million
- Energy: $50,419.3 million
- Forestry: $36,650.3 million
- Total Exports: $410,686.5 million
StatsCan publishes all of Canada’s international trade numbers on its website.
Exporting Energy
One of the largest commodities Canada has to offer the United States is a wealth of energy resources. With continued investment in extracting oil reserves in Alberta’s tar sands, as well as offshore drilling, a vast network of natural gas pipelines, hydroelectric power, etc., Canada has become a significant and stable energy source for the US. Moreover, Canada is already the biggest single foreign source of US petroleum.
US Petroleum Supply
[Source: EIA/Petroleum
Supply Monthly, November 2002]