Loonie rant

[budP]

Hi Guys

I am from the US and how do you feel about NAFDA has it been good or bad for you?
The Chinese imports are killing us down here.

budP

[JustSomeGuy]

Originally Posted by budP Hi Guys I am from the US and how do you feel about NAFDA has it been good or bad for you? The Chinese imports are killing us down here. budP

NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement. China is not involved in NAFTA.

[sergizmo]

As a Canadian, I would like to see NAFTA re-negotiated. I hate that we get lumped in with Mexico; the deal should be between Canada and the USA. Let the Mexican government negotiate their own darn deal.

Canada provides the USA with oil, hydro electricity, metals, chemicals, lumber, and other resources that help to drive it's manufacturing sector. Canada is also the largest customer of US exports. Wages betwen the two countries are similar, neither country really has a competitive advantage.

Mexico is cheap labour, pure and simple.

budP: Chinese imports are hurting us big time as well. The companies best able to weather the storm are ones that offer niche products that are quality.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by budP Hi Guys I am from the US and how do you feel about NAFDA has it been good or bad for you? The Chinese imports are killing us down here. budP

From my point of view NAFTA was a bit of a wash; we are in the business of making equipment for people with a disability and do not have effective competition anywhere in the world so people buy from us no matter what. Our products are all tax exempt and mostly exempt import duties so the reduction in duties as a result of NAFTA was negligible, but the increase in paperwork and all sorts of bureaucratic nonsense made more work for us.

[cyclestart]

Originally Posted by budP I am from the US and how do you feel about NAFDA has it been good or bad for you?

In my not very informed opinion it's worked ok for Canada.

When the idea was first suggested there was a lot of fear mongering. Loss of Canadian sovereignty regarding social programs, etc. If these type of things have happened the changes have been pretty subtle.

One thing for certain. Protectionist policies in the US would be a disaster for Canada.

The Chinese imports are killing us down here.

That's kind of unrelated to NAFTA, but here's an anecdotal tie-in;

My previous employer was offered a killer deal on castings from China. We normally got these castings from a local foundry. After drilling and tapping a couple of holes, these Chinese products were considered 'Canadian'. A 'Made in Canada' label was applied and the products entered your country under NAFTA. This type of loophole needs to be reexamined.

[cyclestart]

Originally Posted by JustSomeGuy I think the question is why are there not more retailers in Canada that can supply these things locally at a fair price. All things being equal, I always buy Canadian. The problem I see is that most of the few domestic sources, price so much higher (even beyond the currency difference).

I had a short conversation with the vp of sales for a mid-size wholesaler/retailer yesterday. Here's sort of my 'tim-the-toolman-interpreting-wilson' version;

Once a year they peg a value on the Loonie. They use this value to set a (hopefully) year-long price for American imports. For this year they set the Loonie at 84 cents despite the fact the exchange rate was in the 90 cent range at the time. We're the lapping up the gravy at that rate? Dunno, didn't have the nerve to ask. The 78 cent Loonie was causing him some concern and he was happy to see it bounce back.

If this is common practice it might explain some Canadian retail pricing. Didn't get a chance to ask about imports from Asia.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by cyclestart .....Once a year they peg a value on the Loonie. They use this value to set a (hopefully) year-long price for American imports....If this is common practice...

To some extent when you are an importer or exporter you have to do this type of thing; that is give your customers a stable price. This means that when the exchange goes one way you take a bath a when it goes the other you benefit in the short term. Throughout the 1990s when the Canadian dollar steadily declined the prices in Canada for many items did not rise by the amount they should have to cover the decline; not surprisingly when the dollar recovered they also did not change by a similar ratio.

Being an importer or exporter can be a bit nerve wracking sometimes because you can lose or gain many thousands of dollars in a very short time if your timing is off for converting currencies. Which is why the machinery importers in Canada tend to price things in US dollars.

[dertsap]

NAFTA is a crock
what did it do for us when Bush decided to throw his illegal tariffs against our softwood , i was literally out of a job within 5 days
we lost more Canadain jobs to that than we ever lost to China
free trade is a bad joke

[New2CNCPaul]

In my opinion, after the US election is over our dollar will go back up again. (Near Par)

Bad for the Canadian Manufacturing sector.

Good for the everyday consumer.

[dertsap]

who knows
a thought struck me as i was in my truck listening to the radio , they were saying that the economists for the TD bank was predicting blah blah blah , all these economists that make these predictions that boost the consumer confidence all work for the banks

it was about a month ago the biggest economist (once again banker) here in BC was blowing out that we would be rockin here untill at least 2011 , my how things change within a couple of weeks , and they want to tell us noone saw this coming , i know when i'm about to over extend myself and go broke , does that make me a better economist than them ?

[ataxy]

did you ever watch the video "money as debt" check it out on google video its about 45min and tho it is nothing new its pretty educational