January 2002 Edition
JOBS
According to the government, at least one Canadian job in three depends on exports and over 85 per cent of our exports go to our partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement. This is one of the reasons that Canada's unemployment, at 6.9 per cent, is the lowest for 25 years. Free trade is critically important for Canada. We earn nearly half our wealth from international trade-related activity (46 per cent of GDP, up from around 25 per cent before the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and NAFTA).
FARMERS
China has 328 million farmers. With WTO entry, China's average tariff on agricultural imports will fall to 15 per cent from 22 per cent. Lower tariffs and a relaxation of state quotas and other controls are expected to bring a surge of food imports that will throw 13 million farmers out of work. China's agricultural output was US$300 billion in 2000, roughly as big as South Korea's economy. But public investment in infrastructure and production-related subsidies was just US$14 billion, far less that the 10 per cent allowed by WTO rules.
TRAVEL AGENTS
The Canadian travel arrangement industry, which comprises travel agents and tour operator services, grew 6.0 per cent in 1999 to $6.5 billion. The revenue generated by the travel agents in 1999 fell 2.8 per cent to $1.7 billion, the result of cuts in the commission rate paid by suppliers of travel services, such as airlines. The tour operators industry grew 10.0 per cent in 1999 to $4.7 billion.
CHARITY
Total charitable donations by Canadians in 2000 grew four times as fast as the number of donors. Donations totalled $5.4 billion in 2000, up 9.2 per cent from 1999 after adjustment for inflation. The results for 2000 maintained the upward trend seen since 1991. After declining slightly in 1999, the number of people reporting charitable donations rose from 5.4 million to 5.5 million in 2000, up 2.3 per cent. As in 1999, Manitoba had the highest percentage of taxfilers declaring charitable donations in 2000. At 29 donors per 100 taxfilers, Manitoba ranked just ahead of Ontario (28) and Saskatchewan (27). The national average remained steady at 26 donors per 100 taxfilers.
BEETLES
Billions of dollars of British Columbia's forests are being ravaged by the mountain pine beetle and billions more are at risk of exposure to the voracious insect. Over the past year, the beetle has expanded its range by 75 per cent to encompass about ten per cent of the provincial land base. Last summer, mountain pine beetles had infected 41 million cubic metres of Interior lumber, equal to almost two-thirds of B.C.'s annual timber harvest. Total value of infected timber is estimated to be C$18 billion.
RENTALS
The vacancy rate for rental housing has tightened across Canada to 1.1 per cent last month from 1.6 per cent the previous month. This is the lowest level since rental statistics were first measured in 1987. The lowest rates were in Victoria, Montreal and Ottawa.
CORRECTNESS
The city council in Liverpool, England, has changed the job title of street sweepers to "street scene operatives." An official explained they do more than merely sweep streets: they also cut grass, tend shrubbery and look after street signs.
FRANCE
Hundreds of French bakers have marched through Paris to oppose the national 35-hour working week which they say will threaten their livelihoods and the quality of their traditional baguettes, croissants and pastries. In a bid to create jobs, France has passed legislation reducing the work week to 35 hours. France has around 33,000 artisan bakers, 115,000 bakery workers and 30,000 bakers' partners. They produce approximately 72 per cent of the country's bread and sales are valued at US$7 billion.
ORGANIC
An increasing number of Latin American farmers are producing organic crops, using traditional and natural methods that do not require agro-chemical inputs. Total yields remain limited, but producers have their eye on markets in Western Europe and the U.S. where consumers are prepared to pay extra for organic products. Organic Chilean wine, Mexican coffee and Venezuelan cocoa are just some of the region's initiatives.
CHANGE
A surplus of coins compounded by Americans emptying their change jars in the softening economy has forced the U.S. Mint to begin layoffs. Mint officials now believe they will need only 15 billion new pennies, nickels dimes and quarters this year instead of 23 billion. The mint had already made too many coins during the previous year. Tens of millions of dollars worth of coins are unexpectedly back in circulation after months or years on dresser tops and in shoe boxes.
IT
A recent survey indicates that Canadian Information Technology (IT) spending will see negligible growth this year, rising to C$27.9 billion from C$27.1 billion last year. Modest gains are expected in 2003. The slowdown in Canada mirrors that in the rest of the world. Worldwide spending is expected to have declined by 9 per cent in 2001 and will fall still further in 2001. Software and services remain the long-term bright spots.
FREE TRADE
Canada has launched free trade negotiations with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua aimed at further enhancing Canada's trade relationship with Central America. In 2000, bilateral trade between Canada and these four countries totalled C$617 million. Canadian direct investment in the area is estimated to be C$160 million. Potential exists for Canadian companies in several priority export sectors including telecommunications and environmental equipment and services, processed foods, automotive parts and construction
DIPLOMATS
The diplomatic service is a powerful economic force in Britain. Official statistics estimate that last year overall expenditure by envoys and their families amounted to US$1.5 billion and billions more is spent on goods and services. About 18,000 Britons are directly employed by foreign embassies.
POLLUTION
According to the Commission for Environmental Co-operation, utilities in North America want to build more than 2,000 electricity generating stations, most of them fossil-fuel fired, by 2007. The NAFTA pollution watchdog says that could cause carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in the U.S. to rise 14 to 38 per cent. It added that Mexican emissions of greenhouse gases would likely rise 48 to 76 per cent, and Canadian emissions from 5 to 16 per cent.
MILK
A new report says Canadians are paying $1 billion a year more than Americans for milk products. The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver policy think tank, says Canadians pay between nine and 36 cents more for a litre of whole milk than Americans. The author of the report claims that milk boards boost domestic prices and that Canada's supply management system distorts prices.
AGE
The Chicago Tribune reports that the average car in the U.S. is eight years old, up from 6.5 in 1990. The number of vehicles that are 11 years or older has been growing steadily since 1992 and is now more than 83 million out of 213 million cars on the road in 2000.
TOURS
A Dutch company is offering an adventure holiday package called Live Like a Tramp in London. For $680.00, it will fly tourists to that city and leave them to fend for themselves on the streets. Each person will get a sleeping bag and either a musical instrument or a sketching pad and pencil to earn survival cash. On the last night, those still in the streets will get a meal and a room in a good hotel. British homeless charities are outraged and the police say they will enforce the Vagrancy Act.
FAT
For the fourth consecutive year, American sales of low-fat products are falling. Five years ago, nearly one in three new food products made a low-fat claim. Today, only one in 10 so much as mentions low fat.
GM
Researchers have been baffled as an ancient variety of corn maize has tested positive for modified organisms in an area where no engineered crops are grown. DNA from genetically modified corn has been found in native corn plants growing in remote southern Mexico. The growing of GM crops has been banned in Mexico since 1998 and none was grown closer than 60 miles to the contaminated maize. Corn pollen is heavy and does not travel far on the wind.
TRADE FAIRS
Germany is a leader in implementing global trade fairs. It hosts two thirds of the world's leading fairs and is home to 6 of the world's 10 largest trade fair companies. In 1999 there were a total of 161,000 exhibitors and more than ten million visitors at German shows. Of 77,000 foreign exhibitors, almost 25,000 came from non-European countries. Some 1.8 million of the visitors came from abroad, including 300,000 from outside Europe.
PLENTY
A combination of bumper harvests and high support prices has landed the Food Corp. of India with a growing mountain of grain. It is also forcing the government to review its policy on agricultural subsidies. At hundreds of state-run depots across the country, India's public stock of food is at an all-time high and next spring it will grow still further to 80 million tonnes, four times the amount necessary in an emergency. Storage costs alone are $2 billion a year.
VIETNAM
The U.S. has signed a trade agreement with Vietnam, the last step in normalizing ties between the two countries. Vietnamese goods and services will gain access to the world's largest market with the same low tariffs enjoyed by most nations. In return, Vietnam must open its state-controlled markets to foreign competition and international standards. It's estimated that Vietnam's exports could double from the current $800 million a year.
DUMPING
Canada and the U.S. led the list of countries that launched investigations into the alleged dumping of goods in their markets in the first half of 2001. The U.S. launched 39 investigations, up nine from in the same period last year, while Canada started 23 investigations. A total of 18 WTO countries started 134 anti-dumping investigations against imports from 41 countries in the first half of the year.
TRENDS
The traditional dining room is disappearing from British homes. Eight out of ten homeowners in London no longer have a separate dining room. Nearly 70 per cent said they had converted it to another use during the past two years. People are putting them to use as offices, playrooms or bedrooms. Fewer family meals and more pressure on space have left homeowners reluctant to set aside a room for formal eating.
TRIVIA
British record company Charrm is releasing a single, in a limited edition of 500 copies, of the one-minute silence in Hyde Park after Princess Diana's funeral in 1997.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
According to the government, at least one Canadian job in three depends on exports and over 85 per cent of our exports go to our partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement. This is one of the reasons that Canada's unemployment, at 6.9 per cent, is the lowest for 25 years. Free trade is critically important for Canada. We earn nearly half our wealth from international trade-related activity (46 per cent of GDP, up from around 25 per cent before the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and NAFTA).
FARMERS
China has 328 million farmers. With WTO entry, China's average tariff on agricultural imports will fall to 15 per cent from 22 per cent. Lower tariffs and a relaxation of state quotas and other controls are expected to bring a surge of food imports that will throw 13 million farmers out of work. China's agricultural output was US$300 billion in 2000, roughly as big as South Korea's economy. But public investment in infrastructure and production-related subsidies was just US$14 billion, far less that the 10 per cent allowed by WTO rules.
TRAVEL AGENTS
The Canadian travel arrangement industry, which comprises travel agents and tour operator services, grew 6.0 per cent in 1999 to $6.5 billion. The revenue generated by the travel agents in 1999 fell 2.8 per cent to $1.7 billion, the result of cuts in the commission rate paid by suppliers of travel services, such as airlines. The tour operators industry grew 10.0 per cent in 1999 to $4.7 billion.
CHARITY
Total charitable donations by Canadians in 2000 grew four times as fast as the number of donors. Donations totalled $5.4 billion in 2000, up 9.2 per cent from 1999 after adjustment for inflation. The results for 2000 maintained the upward trend seen since 1991. After declining slightly in 1999, the number of people reporting charitable donations rose from 5.4 million to 5.5 million in 2000, up 2.3 per cent. As in 1999, Manitoba had the highest percentage of taxfilers declaring charitable donations in 2000. At 29 donors per 100 taxfilers, Manitoba ranked just ahead of Ontario (28) and Saskatchewan (27). The national average remained steady at 26 donors per 100 taxfilers.
BEETLES
Billions of dollars of British Columbia's forests are being ravaged by the mountain pine beetle and billions more are at risk of exposure to the voracious insect. Over the past year, the beetle has expanded its range by 75 per cent to encompass about ten per cent of the provincial land base. Last summer, mountain pine beetles had infected 41 million cubic metres of Interior lumber, equal to almost two-thirds of B.C.'s annual timber harvest. Total value of infected timber is estimated to be C$18 billion.
RENTALS
The vacancy rate for rental housing has tightened across Canada to 1.1 per cent last month from 1.6 per cent the previous month. This is the lowest level since rental statistics were first measured in 1987. The lowest rates were in Victoria, Montreal and Ottawa.
CORRECTNESS
The city council in Liverpool, England, has changed the job title of street sweepers to "street scene operatives." An official explained they do more than merely sweep streets: they also cut grass, tend shrubbery and look after street signs.
FRANCE
Hundreds of French bakers have marched through Paris to oppose the national 35-hour working week which they say will threaten their livelihoods and the quality of their traditional baguettes, croissants and pastries. In a bid to create jobs, France has passed legislation reducing the work week to 35 hours. France has around 33,000 artisan bakers, 115,000 bakery workers and 30,000 bakers' partners. They produce approximately 72 per cent of the country's bread and sales are valued at US$7 billion.
ORGANIC
An increasing number of Latin American farmers are producing organic crops, using traditional and natural methods that do not require agro-chemical inputs. Total yields remain limited, but producers have their eye on markets in Western Europe and the U.S. where consumers are prepared to pay extra for organic products. Organic Chilean wine, Mexican coffee and Venezuelan cocoa are just some of the region's initiatives.
CHANGE
A surplus of coins compounded by Americans emptying their change jars in the softening economy has forced the U.S. Mint to begin layoffs. Mint officials now believe they will need only 15 billion new pennies, nickels dimes and quarters this year instead of 23 billion. The mint had already made too many coins during the previous year. Tens of millions of dollars worth of coins are unexpectedly back in circulation after months or years on dresser tops and in shoe boxes.
IT
A recent survey indicates that Canadian Information Technology (IT) spending will see negligible growth this year, rising to C$27.9 billion from C$27.1 billion last year. Modest gains are expected in 2003. The slowdown in Canada mirrors that in the rest of the world. Worldwide spending is expected to have declined by 9 per cent in 2001 and will fall still further in 2001. Software and services remain the long-term bright spots.
FREE TRADE
Canada has launched free trade negotiations with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua aimed at further enhancing Canada's trade relationship with Central America. In 2000, bilateral trade between Canada and these four countries totalled C$617 million. Canadian direct investment in the area is estimated to be C$160 million. Potential exists for Canadian companies in several priority export sectors including telecommunications and environmental equipment and services, processed foods, automotive parts and construction
DIPLOMATS
The diplomatic service is a powerful economic force in Britain. Official statistics estimate that last year overall expenditure by envoys and their families amounted to US$1.5 billion and billions more is spent on goods and services. About 18,000 Britons are directly employed by foreign embassies.
POLLUTION
According to the Commission for Environmental Co-operation, utilities in North America want to build more than 2,000 electricity generating stations, most of them fossil-fuel fired, by 2007. The NAFTA pollution watchdog says that could cause carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in the U.S. to rise 14 to 38 per cent. It added that Mexican emissions of greenhouse gases would likely rise 48 to 76 per cent, and Canadian emissions from 5 to 16 per cent.
MILK
A new report says Canadians are paying $1 billion a year more than Americans for milk products. The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver policy think tank, says Canadians pay between nine and 36 cents more for a litre of whole milk than Americans. The author of the report claims that milk boards boost domestic prices and that Canada's supply management system distorts prices.
AGE
The Chicago Tribune reports that the average car in the U.S. is eight years old, up from 6.5 in 1990. The number of vehicles that are 11 years or older has been growing steadily since 1992 and is now more than 83 million out of 213 million cars on the road in 2000.
TOURS
A Dutch company is offering an adventure holiday package called Live Like a Tramp in London. For $680.00, it will fly tourists to that city and leave them to fend for themselves on the streets. Each person will get a sleeping bag and either a musical instrument or a sketching pad and pencil to earn survival cash. On the last night, those still in the streets will get a meal and a room in a good hotel. British homeless charities are outraged and the police say they will enforce the Vagrancy Act.
FAT
For the fourth consecutive year, American sales of low-fat products are falling. Five years ago, nearly one in three new food products made a low-fat claim. Today, only one in 10 so much as mentions low fat.
GM
Researchers have been baffled as an ancient variety of corn maize has tested positive for modified organisms in an area where no engineered crops are grown. DNA from genetically modified corn has been found in native corn plants growing in remote southern Mexico. The growing of GM crops has been banned in Mexico since 1998 and none was grown closer than 60 miles to the contaminated maize. Corn pollen is heavy and does not travel far on the wind.
TRADE FAIRS
Germany is a leader in implementing global trade fairs. It hosts two thirds of the world's leading fairs and is home to 6 of the world's 10 largest trade fair companies. In 1999 there were a total of 161,000 exhibitors and more than ten million visitors at German shows. Of 77,000 foreign exhibitors, almost 25,000 came from non-European countries. Some 1.8 million of the visitors came from abroad, including 300,000 from outside Europe.
PLENTY
A combination of bumper harvests and high support prices has landed the Food Corp. of India with a growing mountain of grain. It is also forcing the government to review its policy on agricultural subsidies. At hundreds of state-run depots across the country, India's public stock of food is at an all-time high and next spring it will grow still further to 80 million tonnes, four times the amount necessary in an emergency. Storage costs alone are $2 billion a year.
VIETNAM
The U.S. has signed a trade agreement with Vietnam, the last step in normalizing ties between the two countries. Vietnamese goods and services will gain access to the world's largest market with the same low tariffs enjoyed by most nations. In return, Vietnam must open its state-controlled markets to foreign competition and international standards. It's estimated that Vietnam's exports could double from the current $800 million a year.
DUMPING
Canada and the U.S. led the list of countries that launched investigations into the alleged dumping of goods in their markets in the first half of 2001. The U.S. launched 39 investigations, up nine from in the same period last year, while Canada started 23 investigations. A total of 18 WTO countries started 134 anti-dumping investigations against imports from 41 countries in the first half of the year.
TRENDS
The traditional dining room is disappearing from British homes. Eight out of ten homeowners in London no longer have a separate dining room. Nearly 70 per cent said they had converted it to another use during the past two years. People are putting them to use as offices, playrooms or bedrooms. Fewer family meals and more pressure on space have left homeowners reluctant to set aside a room for formal eating.
TRIVIA
British record company Charrm is releasing a single, in a limited edition of 500 copies, of the one-minute silence in Hyde Park after Princess Diana's funeral in 1997.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
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