The article makes nine points, which I list just the titles here. Read the article for discussion of each point.
Here are nine reality checks:
1. Canada is the largest market in the world for U.S. exports.
2. The Canada-U.S. trade relationship is among the most balanced of all major U.S. trading partners.
3. The bilateral deficit with Canada ranks 10th among U.S. trading partners, accounting for only five per cent of the total U.S. trade deficit.
4. Trump’s claim the bilateral deficit is $200 billion is an utter fabrication.
5. Compared with a two-way trade flow of almost US$1 trillion per year, this imbalance is puny.
6. The United States enjoys a strong surplus in services trade with Canada,
7. The United States also enjoys a net surplus on investment income flowing out of Canada (C$13 billion in 2023).
8. Most Canadian exports to the United States are unfinished inputs that U.S. businesses use in their own production — more so than with other trading partners.
9. Having access to a secure and lower-cost energy source is a major benefit for U.S. businesses and consumers.
Three edited points:
In fact, in at least three ways Canada clearly subsidizes the United States, not the other way around. Unusual and sweet trade arrangements, deviating from normal international trade or business practices, effectively subsidize the United States:
1. Canada is the only large net oil-exporting country without a state-owned oil producer, and U.S. companies own $55 billion worth of our oil and gas sector.
2. Large Canadian imports of services from the United States are weakly regulated, underreported and largely untaxed (and thus subsidized relative to other businesses).
3. Canadian investors made $700 billion worth of low-interest loans to the United States, fully offsetting the bilateral trade deficit over the past decade. Despite that, Canada incurs a large net deficit in investment income: $13 billion in net interest and profits flows south each year.
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