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The surplus narrowed in February, on lower exports of crude petroleum and cars, from a revised $382-million, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected a surplus of $500-million.

Both imports and exports fell. Exports tumbled 4.9 per cent after four straight months of growth while imports slid 4 per cent.

Import volumes, meanwhile, fell 4.3 per cent while prices rose 0.2 per cent. Again, most of the drop was due to lower volumes in autos and energy. Exports to the United States fell 3.5 per cent after four months in a row of growth. Imports fell 6.1 per cent, leaving the surplus at $4.6-billion. Exports to countries other than the United States fell 8.5 per cent amid lower shipments of precious metals to the European Union. Energy exports fell 8 per cent, led by a drop in crude “reflecting higher inventories in the United States,” the agency said. That follows a 71-per-cent increase in crude exports from September to January.

And food-importing countries that secured supplies, quickly started to hoard them in anticipation that more food exporters would decide to keep their crops at home.

“to maintain social stability and promote economic development”.

“Despite the rapid growth in emerging economies, the United States remains a large and wealthy market that is right next door to Canada, whereas emerging markets are a significant distance away,”

the U.S. is also Canada’s leading source of foreign direct investment, or FDI. In 2010, the stock of U.S. investment here was $306-billion.

Perrin Beatty, chief executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and a former Conservative cabinet minister, warned Canada's dismal productivity rate, which he said is about 25 percent below that of the United States, was the biggest problem facing exporters.

even the government’s own report shows that Canadian imports (of both goods and services) from the EU will increase by twice as much as Canadian exports to the EU, substantially widening the existing bilateral trade deficit.

exports grew less rapidly with FTA partners than with non-FTA partners, but imports grew quicker with FTA partners than with non-FTA partners. 

In the real world, free trade agreements (not surprisingly) tend to make existing trade imbalances even worse: this is true throughout economics, where deregulation generally tends to exacerbate the imbalances and unevenness of market outcomes.

Three scenarios are presented: one in which tariffs are mutually eliminated; one in which EU-Canada trade expands in line with the historical experience of Canada’s previous FTAs; and one in which tariff elimination is combined with the appreciation of Canada’s currency (versus the euro) which has been experienced in fact since the two parties launched free trade negotiations.  In every case, the bilateral trade balance worsens significantly (and in the third scenario, it worsens dramatically – since the higher Canadian dollar reduces Canadian exports, even as imports from the EU are surging).  Based on average employment intensity across 23 goods-producing industries, the simulations suggest an incremental loss of between 28,000 jobs (in the first scenario) and 150,000 jobs (in the third).  Direct losses in Canadian GDP range between 0.56 percent in the first scenario, and almost 3 percent in the third.

A free trade agreement with the EU will exacerbate Canada’s existing large bilateral deficit, at the expense of output and employment in many important sectors of the economy. 

Bottom line: Despite genuinely booming imports, trade flows still kept dragging down America’s growth and employment performance, and still kept boosting the country’s debt burden.  Do these trends really deserve the label “recovery”?

As some 300 million to 400 million people annually move from rural to urban China, the country becomes richer and people consume more, Abbott said, noting power consumption in 2010 of 3,248 terawatt hours should grow to 4,510 terawatt hours in 2015.

We have to remember that Korea is a very price sensitive market and the fact that there’s no plan for Canada to have a free trade agreement.

we must recognize that public policy should be designed to benefit all Canadians, rather than a few large retailers. The currencies of resource exporters such as Australia, Canada and Brazil have appreciated sharply in recent years. We should all enjoy the higher standard of living the strong dollar entails, rather than allowing retailers to monopolize these benefits.

Therefore, we must embrace, rather than reject, the economic forces that drive the new U.S. thinking on this issue. Matching the $1,000 exemption would help Canadians realize greater gains from trade, while allowing CBSA to focus on its core mission.

We will not give in to Opposition demands to impose

This reckless policy would lead to continuing deficits and higher taxes on all Canadians. It would stall our recovery, kill hundreds of thousands of jobs and set families back.

We need to keep protecting and creating jobs now

Keeping taxes low A key part of that foundation is low taxes.

Our tax cuts are also helping employers to invest, grow and create jobs.

Our government will take further action to encourage them to expand and create jobs.

The Hiring Credit for Small Business will provide a one-year EI break for some 525,000 Canadian small businesses

Expanding international trade Beyond this, we will promote new export opportunities for all Canadian businesses

We will provide greater financial security for Canadians, and practical help to make ends meet.

still net borrowers, meaning they borrow more than they save

consumer spending will not be the engine of economic growth in the coming quarters and the inevitable future rebalancing of monetary policy will be a shock to many households

some of the drop in household indebtedness is explained by strong income gains, not by debt repayment per se

sustainable personal growth is likely in a range of 4.0-4.5 per cent. Credit continues to grow at a pace that is two percentage points above that

the level of Canadian household debt — which in December officially surpassed those of our neighbours to the south — is unsustainable

total consumer debt load is reported to be about $1.5 trillion

Data released late last year suggested Canadians owed on average $112,000 — a figure that includes all kinds of debt, including mortgages — and a debt-to-income ratio of 150 per cent means they were spending $1,500 for every $1,000 in take-home pay

Factors that will moderate credit growth over the short term include spending fatigue, a soft landing in the housing market, stricter mortgage rules and Canadians preparing for the higher interest rates that are sure to come as the economy recovers.