Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
It's definitely is a plus that we share a land border that facilitates easy trade, but we should have never made ourselves so reliant on it. We traded resilience and even some economic autonomy for something because it was easy. All the criticisms and negative outcomes at the time that NAFTA was first being discussed are coming to fruition.
Look at a country like Australia that shares no land border with anyone. Everything either enters or leaves through a port, and they seem to do fine. Being connected by land to the U.S. should have always been treated as a bonus and something nice to have, but not something to tie our horses to. All those politicians and industry tycoons pushing for it in the 1980s and early 90s sold out future generations so they could have an immediate gain even though everyone knew this could or eventually would happen. If you give up a little economic autonomy to the U.S., of course it was only a matter of time until someone would come along to exploit that. If it takes 40-50 years to diversify and adjust, then better get started as soon as possible.
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While I wouldn't argue that Canada should attempt to promote trade everywhere if you take Australia as an example, it's top trading partners are all the major economies closest to it, China Japan and India, Asia makes up about 60% of its imports and 75% of it's exports, proximity is always king when it comes to trade due to not just price but speed and ease of support due to time difference, it is easier for me to order from the US than the UK because by the time I have woken up at 8am everyone in London is going home