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Blog Category: Canada

Secretary Pritzker and Canadian Partners Discuss Increasing Investments on Both Sides of the Border

Submitted on October 31, 2014 - 5:10pm
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Secretary Pritzker laying a wreath at the Canadian War Memorial, extending her deepest sympathy for the loss of Canada's heroes.

During a two day trip to Ottawa and Toronto, Canada, Secretary Penny Pritzker met with Canadian Minister of Industry James Moore and Minister of International Trade Ed Fast to discuss U.S. – Canada trade relations and ways our countries can enhance commercial and economic competitiveness.  

During her stop in Ottawa, Secretary Pritzker also delivered the keynote address at an event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada, where she emphasized expanding bilateral and North American growth and competitiveness through increased trade, investment, and innovation. She also reaffirmed North America’s commitment to completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a high-standard trade agreement that opens new markets across the Asia-Pacific to goods and services made in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Secretary Pritzker also took a moment during her trip to acknowledge the gruesome attack last week in Canada, and offered condolences to the families of Corporal Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent as well as the people of Canada.

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Secretary Pritzker Highlights Strong Economic Partnership Between USA and Canada

Submitted on January 17, 2014 - 6:35pm
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International Trade Between U.S. and Canada

Today, Secretary Penny Pritzker and Canada’s International Trade Minister Edward Fast spoke about the future of the U.S.-Canadian economic relationship at a luncheon hosted by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The United States and Canada share a long-standing partnership based on history, geography, and the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship. It is the biggest bilateral trade relationship in the world with more than $1 million in trade crossing our border every minute.  

In 2011, President Obama and Prime Minister Harper announced the U.S.-Canada Beyond the Border Action Plan and the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council, with initiatives aimed at enhancing economic competitiveness. Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner – and vice versa. With more than $700 billion in two-way trade of goods and services annually and more than $600 billion in direct investment on both sides of the border, millions of jobs in each country depend on shared economic competitiveness. Canada is the number one export market for 36 of our 50 states and is among one of the top five export markets for another ten states.

Those stats reflect the threefold growth of trade in goods since 1990. The total value of goods traded between Canada and the United States in 1990 was $174 billion. By 2012, that had grown to more than $600 billion. Top exports to Canada include transportation equipment, machinery, chemicals, computers and electronics products and food products. The Department of Commerce has been working hard to ensure that number continues to climb.

What’s clear is that the two countries don’t just trade with each other, they build things together.  In addition to aerospace, the auto supply chains are intertwined. Automotive components often cross the border many times before a final product is ready to be sold. In addition, investors pour hundreds of billions of dollars into both economies to build new facilities and to create new jobs. Literally millions of people in both countries rely on the trade and investment relationship for their livelihoods.

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Works to Encourage North American Economic Cooperation

Submitted on October 29, 2013 - 5:30pm
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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker met with her Mexican and Canadian counterparts, Canadian Minister of International Trade Ed Fast and Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo

The United States, Mexico and Canada have come a long way since NAFTA launched a new era of commerce across the continent nearly 20 years ago. The trilateral relationship now accounts for more than $1 trillion in trade each year. In fact, each day, the United States conducts $3 billion dollars in trade with Canada and Mexico. 

Yesterday, at the North American Competitiveness and Innovation Conference (NACIC) in La Jolla, Calif., U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker met with her Mexican and Canadian counterparts, Canadian Minister of International Trade Ed Fast and Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo, to discuss how all three countries can continue to work together to promote mutual economic growth and prosperity. 

In a joint statement, the ministers pledged to work together to keep the region competitive and help North American businesses and workers succeed through enhanced regulatory cooperation and coordinated efforts to facilitate increased trade, including the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.

North America is already one of the most attractive places for businesses to invest and create jobs. More than 460 million consumers live in the region. Combined, the U.S., Canada and Mexico account for one-quarter of the world’s GDP. North America is a source of abundant and affordable energy, is home to a skilled workforce, and has made tremendous investments in research and development.

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Acting Deputy Secretary Blank Emphasizes Success of U.S.-Canada Trade

Submitted on June 3, 2011 - 12:40pm
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Acting Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank Conversing with Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada

Acting Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank is in Ottawa, Canada today and gave remarks before the American Chamber of Commerce.   She discussed U.S.–Canada commercial relations and how the free flow of goods and services results in huge economic benefits for both countries.  She also highlighted the benefits of creating jobs and economic growth on both sides of the border.

Increasing trade between the two countries will help reach President Obama’s National Export Initiative goal of doubling U.S. exports in 5 years.  To reach that goal, Blank emphasized that 2011 needs to be another banner year for U.S.-Canada trade.  In 2010, U.S. exports to Canada reached $248.8 billion.

In fact, the U.S.–Canada economic relationship is unparalleled in the world.  We are each others’ largest trading partners.

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U.S. Aerospace Supplier and Investment Mission to Canada Generates $1.34 Billion in Commercial Deals

Submitted on May 4, 2011 - 1:10pm
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Image of NOAA plane

Guest blog post by Suresh Kumar, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Promotion and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service

When people think of Canada they often think of hockey, moose, and cold weather, not aircraft.  In fact, Canada's aerospace industry is the fifth largest in the world ($22.2 billion in revenues in 2009) and the United States is Canada's largest supplier of aircraft parts and components.  Bombardier Aerospace, a Canadian manufacturer of commercial aircraft and business jets, has grown to be one of the top four aircraft manufacturers in the world, behind Boeing, Airbus, and Brazil’s Embraer.  Canada’s geographic proximity, open market economy and stable business climate make it an attractive market for U.S. aerospace companies.

To help U.S. companies take advantage of these export opportunities, I’m in Canada leading 21 companies on a three-day U.S. Aerospace Supplier and Investment Mission.  On the mission, we announced commercial signings worth $1.34 billion in U.S. contracts with Canadian aerospace firms, a figure representing over $800 million in U.S. export content.  

These newly signed commercial deals are a crucial part of our effort to strengthen the economy and will make an important contribution to manufacturing and job growth across the United States.

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NOAA Joins Other U.S. Agencies and Canada to Survey Arctic Continental Shelf

Submitted on August 10, 2009 - 10:58am
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Image of U.S. and Canada Coast Guard icebreakers side by side. Click for larger image.

The Department of Commerce’s National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will join a multi-agency joint expedition that will bring together icebreakers from the U.S. and Canada to collect and share data useful to both countries in defining the full extent of the Arctic continental shelf. The Arctic survey is part of the multi-year, multi-agency effort undertaken by the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project, led by the Department of State, with vice co-chairs from the Department of the Interior and NOAA. NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research provided key funding for the U.S. mission. (More)

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NOAA Researchers: Blue Whales Re-establishing Former Migration Patterns

Submitted on May 11, 2009 - 2:05pm
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Blue whale spouting. Click for larger image.

Scientists have documented the first known migration of blue whales from the coast of California to areas off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska since the end of commercial whaling in 1965. In the scientific journal Marine Mammal Science, researchers from Cascadia Research Collective in Washington state, NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in California, and Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans identified 15 separate cases where blue whales were seen off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska. (More)

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