Currency Crisis Slows Exports to Canada

August 26, 1998

26 August 1998

Currency Crisis Slows Exports to Canada

The following article is excerpted from the 26 August 1998 edition of "The Journal of Commerce".

Some of the bloom is coming off important parts of Canada-United States traffic, certainly from south to north, because of the sinking Canadian dollar.

Truckers carrying goods to Canada from the United States are starting to feel that loads from shippers are getting harder to find.

Going south with exports from Canada, however, the anecdotal signs are that business is booming.

The usual big fall and winter demand for US fruit and vegetables may soon feel the sharply higher costs to Canadian buyers as their dollar falls to about 65 US cents, brokers say....

For truckers, "we seem to have to search a little bit more for our loads coming out of the United States," said John Cleland, general manage of Hyndman Transport Ltd... "Exports from the US have become less competitive, and that is having an impact (on trucking)," he said.

The food, lodging, fuel and other expenses of drivers also have risen, as have the costs of licensing and taxes in the United States for Canadian companies.

"People (trucking companies) are beginning to report that they are feeling a slowdown, that volumes are beginning to come down," said Michelline Tansey, president of the North American Transportation Council, an association of US and Canadian motor carriers at Fort Erie, Ontario.

It was all anecdotal so far, she said, but it appeared that north-to-south trucking was in fine shape while it was becoming tougher in the other direction....

US exports to Canada through June rose, to $79.2 billion from $75.2 for the same period in 1997. Imports from Canada rose, to $87.5 billion from $84 billion through June of 1997, according to the US Department of Commerce....


Topic(s): 
Canadian Economy & Politics
Information Source: 
Canadian News Channel
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