Paul Martin commentary
A key plank in the Canadian response to tariffs imposed by our primary trading partner has been a push to diversify our customer list: to find new export markets other than the United States. But not all regions are taking up this initiative.
A new report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has identified the five Canadian cities enjoying the most success when it comes to finding new or non-traditional export markets. And Saskatoon is among them.
The others are Kelowna, Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa.
At the other end of the equation are Oshawa, London and Kitchner-Waterloo which are feeling the squeeze of US tariffs more acutely than any other regions.
Since Donald Trump introduced his tariff regime, Canadian exports to non-U.S. markets have increased quite significantly but, according to the Chamber report, the bulk of that improvement came from existing exporters doing more rather than a whole raft of new players entering the fray.
In fact, 90-percent of Canadian businesses who consider themselves local are more likely to raise prices than to reposition themselves to capture international customers.
