Owners and decision makers of B.C.’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) believe the country’s exporters should be concerned about the United States’ rising national debt and begin targeting other markets, according to a new Angus Reid survey commissioned by UPS Canada.
While the national survey identified that SMEs across Canada feel exporters need to diversify beyond the U.S. market, it found the feeling particularly strong in B.C.
The survey found that 91% of SMEs feel Canadian businesses should be concerned about the U.S.’s rising debt, versus 85% nationally, and 74% of B.C. SMEs say exporters should seek other options immediately, versus 60% nationally.
“Many businesses are beginning to see that there are advantages to diversifying exports so that there’s a healthy reliance on the U.S. market and other strategic global markets,” said Mike Tierney, president of UPS Canada, in a press release.
“Canadian economists and the Bank of Canada have long called for the diversification of Canadian exports, and it seems many of the country’s SMEs are beginning to take heed.”
The survey found that B.C. businesses feel harder hit by foreign competition and the high Canadian dollar than the national average, with 59% of B.C. SMEs saying foreign competition has had no impact at all on their business versus 63% nationally and 51% of B.C. SMEs saying they’ve been unaffected by the rising loonie versus 54% nationally.
The survey found that beyond the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Canadian SMEs see South Korea and Mexico as attractive emerging markets but remain leery of markets identified by economists as having great potential, including Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Jenny Wagler
Twitter: JennyWagler_BIV