NEWS RELEASES
CANADIAN TRADE AND INVESTMENT STRONG DESPITE GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY
May 2, 2002 (10:35 a.m. EDT) No. 45
CANADIAN TRADE AND INVESTMENT STRONG DESPITE
GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY
Canada performed well in trade and investment in 2001 despite global economic uncertainty and the
interruption of trade due to the September 11 terrorist attacks, concludes a report released by International
Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
"Canada did well in a year when many of our trading partners lapsed into recessions--the United States, Japan,
Germany, to name a few," said the Minister. "Canada posted a surprisingly strong performance on the
international trade and investment fronts."
Trade Update 2002: Third Annual Report on Canada's State of Trade highlights Canada's impressive
international business performance and key trends at home and abroad in 2001.
Exports and imports of goods and services with the world totalled $880.5 billion in 2001, or an average of
$2.4 billion per day.
About $42.8 billion in new direct investment flowed into Canada in 2001, bringing the stock of foreign direct
investment in Canada to $320.9 billion, up 6.2 percent from 2000.
With US$381 billion in two-way merchandise trade with the United States (63.4 percent higher than Mexico-U.S. trade), Canada is solidly entrenched as the U.S.'s number one trading partner.
Canada's new economy industries played a greater role in our overall trade success. Knowledge-based
categories posted their strongest growth in recent years, representing 50 percent of total exports of services in
2001.
"It is important not to be complacent. We must forge ahead and search out new and expanded trading
relationships," said Mr. Pettigrew. "This is why we are promoting trade with such countries as India, China and
Mexico through trade missions, and Costa Rica and Singapore through new trade agreements."
Building a new and strengthened partnership with Africa is a key priority for the G8 Summit that Canada will be
hosting in June. Trade Update 2002 includes a special section on trade with Africa. Since 1993, Canadian
exports to Africa have risen 48 percent while imports have grown 63 percent. Canadian investment in Africa
has increased more than 600 percent since 1993 to $2.8 billion.
Trade Update 2002: Third Annual Report on Canada's State of Trade is available at
the following Web site: www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/eet/state-of-trade-e.asp
Other related departmental publications are:
Opening Doors to the World: Canada's International Market Access Priorities--2002, which outlines market
access priorities the government will pursue in 2002 and is available at the following Web site:
www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/tna-nac/cimap-e.asp
Trade Policy Research 2002, a thought-provoking publication that presents trade-related research and analysis
undertaken within the Department over the past year, is available at the following Web site:
www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/eet/new-e.asp
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Highlights from Trade Update 2002 are attached.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Sébastien Théberge
Office of the Minister for International Trade
(613) 992-7332
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
HIGHLIGHTS
For Canada, 2001 marked the tenth consecutive year of economic growth, the longest and most stable
expansion of the post-war era. Canada's trade and investment continued to contribute substantially to this
economic performance.
Last year 167,100 net new jobs were created in this country, linked in part to trade with the world. In fact, an
estimated one of every four jobs in Canada is linked to our export success in global markets.
Trade
Exports of goods and services remained resilient, declining by 2.1 percent to $467.6 billion in 2001, after
increasing by 14.6 percent to a record high in 2000.
Imports of goods and services amounted to $412.9 billion in 2001, down 2.9 percent from 2000.
Two-way trade in goods and services averaged $2.4 billion per day in 2001 of which $1.85 billion per day
was with the U.S.
The current account balance established a new record surplus of $29.1 billion, up from $26.9 billion in 2000.
Investment
The cumulative stock of Canadian direct investment abroad increased by 14.4 percent to a record high of
$389.4 billion in 2001.
The stock of foreign direct investment in Canada reached a peak of $320.9 billion in 2001, up 6.2 percent
from 2000.
Trade by Sector
Canada's exports and imports of services rose at a steady pace over the last two decades. Services exports
totalled $55.1 billion in 2001, $55.3 billion in 2000, $51.7 in 1999, 49.35 billion in 1998, and $43.76 billion in
1997. Imports kept pace at $61.9 billion in 2001, $62 billion in 2000, $58 billion in 1999, $56 billion in 1998, and
52.6 billion in 1997.
Since 1994, Canada's exports of resources and related commodities have represented less than half of
annual trade in merchandise. Canada's dependence on trade in commodities and other resource products has
declined sharply in the last decade.
Exports of machinery and equipment fell by 7.6 percent in 2001, but still dominated exports, representing 24
percent of Canada's export sales. Machinery and equipment exports remained at a near-peak level of $98.8
billion.
Exports of automotive products, a sector that represents 22.5 percent of goods exported in 2001, were down
5.3 percent to $92.7 billion.
Exports of industrial material, which represents16.1 percent of exports, edged up by 0.5 percent in 2001 to
$66.3 billion.
Energy trade played a particularly dominant role in Canada's merchandise trade performance. In 2001, the
energy surplus reached a new record high of $37.6 billion, building on the strength of high energy prices.
Energy represents 13.4 percent of exports and totalled $55.3 billion.
Exports of agricultural and fishing products also jumped in 2001--by 12.6 percent in 2001 to $30.8 billion.
Trade by Region
Exports of goods and services to countries outside the U.S., European Union and Japan rose by 0.4 percent
to a record high of $43.2 billion in 2001.
Canada remained well ahead of other trading partners in the key U.S. market-- 19 percent of imports to the
U.S. in 2001 came from Canada; Mexico was a distant second at 11.5 percent; Japan dropped to third,
accounting for 11.1 percent of the U.S.'s imports; and China accounted for 9 percent.
As a percentage of U.S. merchandise imports, Canada's market presence in the U.S. increased from 18.8
percent in 2000 to 19 percent in 2001. In 2001, the value of U.S. merchandise imports from Canada was about
two thirds higher than that of U.S. merchandise imports from Mexico.
Canada's surplus in goods and services trade with the U.S. rose to a new record of $89.5 billion in 2001,
from $85.3 billion in 2000.
The U.S. received 81.8 percent of Canada's exports of goods and services in 2001, a small decline from
81.9 percent in 2000.
Imports of goods and services from the U.S. represented 71 percent of Canada's total imports in 2001, down
from 71.9 percent in 2000.
Canadian exports to the major Latin American economies rose by 6 percent in 2001 and double-digit rates of
growth were recorded in exports to Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela.
Sales to the European Union fell 2.4 percent in 2001, following a 13.2 percent jump in 2000, as growth in
major Western European economies slowed.
Exports of goods and services to Japan fell sharply by 8.9 percent.
Merchandise exports to China and Singapore grew strongly, by 14.6 percent and 4.4 percent respectively in
2001.
Over the period 1993 to 2001, Canadian merchandise exports to China increased by 150 percent to $4.2
billion in 2001. Meanwhile, Canada's merchandise imports from China grew even more rapidly, by 310 percent
to $12.7 billion in 2001.
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