Over the past year, U.S. and Canadian government border and security agencies have begun making incremental progress in improving the cross-border flow of people and goods between the two countries. The moves have come a year after Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barrack Obama signed the Beyond the Border Action Plan, which aims to create a shared approach to border security while expediting trade and travel across the border.
Business representatives at the Vancouver Board of Trade's special forum on the issue last week welcomed the moves, which have taken years to develop a decade after 9/11, which transformed border security around the world.
But John Manley, president and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, argued that the plan to improve cross-border goods and people movement should not just improve the flow of trade between Canada and the U.S. He said it should also work to strategically position both countries to compete and take advantage of economic and trade opportunities with Asia in the coming decades.
Manley said companies can take better advantage of Canada's and America's fairly integrated economies by viewing the countries as members of a closely linked supply chain instead of as competitors.
"Asia's rise represents significant challenges but also huge opportunities. We'll be a lot better off if we work together to strengthen the competitiveness of the North American platform."
Streamlining the process of moving cargo across the Canada-U.S. border will be essential, not only to improve efficiency but also to encourage exports by small and medium-sized businesses across the country.
SMEs remain a relatively untapped source of export growth for the country. He noted that while 43% of large companies with more than 500 staff export their products, only 19% of medium-sized companies do so and only 1.3% of small businesses export goods and services.
"So 0.3% of Canadian businesses account for 66% of our exports," he said. "That has to change rapidly in Canada."
