I don't really have much time today (swamped at work), but I wanted to drop the link to this article from The Economist:
Canada and the United States: A Fence in the North, TooI see two big issues coming out of pols and pundits over the past year: Immigration / National Security, and the Rise of China as an Economic Power. Yes, I capitalized that.
The whole thing with immigration and national security, in my opinion, seems wildly overplayed and overhyped. Yes, we've nabbed some suspects crossing over from Canada. But, remember, most of the 9/11 hijackers were here legally on student or temporary visas.
And with China, commentators would have us think that 90% of our imports come from China. Look, China is the United States'
fourth largest trading partner. Behind Canada. Behind Japan. Behind Mexico.
Now, we get to see an interesting effect of the heightened push for border security in Canada:
In a joint report last month, the chambers of commerce in both countries said they were increasingly worried about the impact of these measures on trade. Increased inspections, rising fees and longer waits are making the border “thicker, stickier, and more costly”, says Perrin Beatty of the Canadian chamber. Others argue that all this is starting to undermine the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which also includes Mexico.
Two-way trade last year totalled C$625 billion ($582 billion). Hardest hit are integrated industries such as carmaking. Before 2001 it made sense to shuttle parts back and forth between plants on opposite sides of the border in order to produce a finished vehicle. Now the stickier border is adding to the troubles of Detroit's uncompetitive carmakers. A ship carrying 4,000 cars from Asia landing on the west coast of the United States undergoes just one inspection; the components in a car made in North America will, all told, have gone through thousands, notes Jayson Myers of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, an industry body.
So... let me get this straight.
We're worried about border security from one of our closest democratic friends and economic allies. We set up border protections with our democratic friend and economic ally. Our border protections seriously hurt the economic trade between the U.S. and Canada.
In steps China, a country with a communist economy (kind of), communist politics (kind of), and is viewed as a threat by U.S. officials economically, militarily, diplomatically, and (at least during the Olympics) athletically. Basically, China is antithetical to the United States in so many regards.
And because of our security concerns with our best democratic ally, we've allowed China to overtake Canada with our imports:
China has surpassed Canada as America's largest single source of imports. Some Canadian firms are seeking new markets overseas. Exports to the United States fell in 2007 (though they still account for three-quarters of the total).
Maybe we can make Mexico's importing process so convoluted, that we let Iran take up its slack.
