List of the largest trading partners of Canada

NAFTA leaders Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mexican President Peña Nieto, and U.S. President Barack Obama, 2014

This is a list of the largest trading partners of Canada. Canada is considered to be a trading nation as its total trade is worth more than two-thirds of its GDP (the second highest level in the G7 after Germany).^[1][2][3]

Historically, the issue of Canada's largest trade partners, and dependence on particular markets, has been a major political issue. At the time of Confederation in 1867, the United Kingdom was by far Canada's largest trading partner, reflecting the close historical, cultural, and institutional ties within the British Empire. Over time, more and more of Canada's trade was proportionally done with the United States. Various governments hoped to strengthen or reverse this trend, by changing tariff policy either to one of Imperial Preference with the British, Reciprocity with the National Policy of internal development. The 1891 and 1911 elections were fought partly over the issue of closer trade relationships with the British. Following the Civil War, the United States emerged as Canada's largest trading partner. By the time the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community in 1973, the idea of the UK as an alternative to the USA as Canada's largest market was no longer viable. Canada and the United States signed the Free Trade Agreement in 1988 (which was expanded into [NAFTA] by the addition of Mexico in 1994). Since that time the United States has dominated Canadian trade by an overwhelming degree. After the Wars, trade with Asia began to expand, especially China. After the opening of Canada – People's Republic of China relations in 1970, trade with China has expanded rapidly.

The 20 largest trade partners of Canada

The 20 largest trade partners of Canada represent 94.0% of Canada's exports, and 91.9% of Canada's imports as of December 2014.^[4] These figures do not include services or foreign direct investment. The largest partners of Canada with their total trade (sum of imports and exports) in millions of Canadian Dollars for calendar year 2014 are as follows:^[5]

Rank rush	Country	Exports	Imports	Total Trade	Trade Balance
1	United States	400,094	350,436	750,530	+49,657
-	European Union	40,495	49,297	89,792	-8,803
2	China	20,620	35,541	56,161	-14,922
3	Mexico	6,846	17,235	24,081	-10,389
4	United Kingdom	15,916	8,132	24,048	+7,785
5	Japan	11,093	9,184	20,276	+1,909
6	Germany	3,458	13,091	16,549	-9,633
7	South Korea	4,384	5,600	9,984	-1,217
8	Hong Kong	4,682	4,168	8,850	+515
9	Italy	4,049	4,721	8,770	-672
10	Netherlands	4,041	4,310	8,350	-269
11	France	3,499	4,366	7,865	-867
12	Belgium	3,672	3,144	6,815	+528
13	Switzerland	1,688	4,877	6,565	-3,189
14	India	3,385	2,392	5,777	+993
15	Brazil	2,281	2,839	5,121	-558
16	Taiwan	1,493	2,803	4,296	-1,311
17	Norway	2,380	1,831	4,212	+549
18	Peru	841	2,811	3,652	-1,970
19	Saudi Arabia	1,478	2,069	3,547	-592
20	Spain	1,143	2,194	3,337	-1,051
-	Remaining Countries	31,911	42,212	74,123	-10,297

References

1. http://www.investinontario.com/siteselector/coca_401.asp
2. http=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
3. http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TRADEINDMACRO
4. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/gblec02a-eng.htm
5. Imports, exports and trade balance of goods on a balance-of-payments basis, by country or country grouping