Canada has always done a lot of trading with the United States, the biggest buyer of the products and natural resources it sells.
But now companies in Canada are finding other countries to trade with, like India and China.
A new report written by experts at one of Canada’s biggest banks says that by the end of this decade — the year 2020 — Canada will only trade about 60 per cent of its goods with its neighbouring country, the United States. That’s down from 75 per cent right now.
Benjamin Tal, who is the Deputy Chief Economist at the bank where the report was written, says Canada is selling less to the United States because other countries in “emerging markets” like India and China are buying more of Canada’s products.
These countries are developing so they need lots of products that Canada has to help them grow. One example is wood from Canadian forests which can be sold, or exported, to these countries.
Canada also exports natural resources such as oil and gas for energy and fuel, and metals and minerals. Other examples of goods sold by Canadian companies include food from farms, machinery and equipment, and even products like airplanes and flight simulators for the aerospace and defence industry.
For a long time, Canada has relied on a single country to buy most of its products. But the United States may not always want or be able to buy so much of what Canada wants to sell, explained Mr. Tal, who works at CIBC World Markets.
Luckily, he said, Canada has “a golden opportunity” to add to its list of trading partners.
Finding partners besides the United States can also help Canadian companies make more money, Mr. Tal said.
Developing new kinds of products to sell, or export, to other countries would help Canada reach this goal, he added.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Imagine you only had one customer who came to buy things from your store. What would be the positives and negatives of this business relationship?
Now imagine that you have many customers who buy things from your store. What positives and negatives would exist in this scenario?
Reading Prompt: Demonstrating Understanding
“It’s a small world after all” is a chorus that is sung by children all over the world. How does the information in today’s article support this idea?
Intermediate
Demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing
important ideas and citing a variety of details that support the main idea(OME, Reading: 1.4).
Grammar Feature: Present Continuous Tense
Present continuous is a tense that describes events that are happening now, soon, or in the near future. Sentences written in present continuous include a form of “be” (am, is, are) and a verb ending in “ing.” The sentence below is an example of a sentence written in the present continuous tense because it is happening now and includes a form of be + a verb ending in ing .
“Benjamin Tal, who is the Deputy Chief Economist at the bank where the report was written, says Canada is selling less to the United States because other countries in “emerging markets” like India and China are buying more of Canada’s products.“
Change the following sentences into sentences in the present continuous tense.
1. Antonio thinks I have his pencil. _________________________________
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2. Sylvie and Laura dance like maniacs. ______________________________
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3. Joyce and Bennett enjoy watching baseball together. _________________
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4. I ask my brother to leave me alone. ______________________________
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