One of our key impediments in Canada is that we seem to have a natural aversion to the risks, perceived or real, of dealing in Asian markets.
Unheeded warnings have spelt disaster at various points in history. Past prophets of future events that actually occurred were tuned out, jeered, or much worse. In many cases, their predictions seemed too fantastic, and required such drastic measures that the fateful ‘wait-and-see’ option was taken by most. Trade diversification toward Asian markets is a much more believable inevitability, as it is already in the works, and is predictable by very simple math. If so, why are so many Canadian exporters in denial, or dismissive about it?
The top reason is our big market to the south. Without a doubt, it should be our biggest concern, the market that we nurture the most; in short, the big draw. But like naysayers of old who shunned warnings by assuring everyone that things would always be as they now are, prominent Canadian economists claim that growth dynamics notwithstanding, it is impossible for other nations or regions to supplant the U.S. market as our ‘number one.’ We need to be reminded that it is actually already in the works; that it’s going to continue, as potential growth in Asia is far greater than in the U.S., for far longer; that growing Asian per capita wealth is increasing its need for the goods we produce; and we have a comparative advantage in goods and services that Asia has a critical need for...
This was excerpted from a 21 March 2019 commentary by Peter Hall of EDC.