Italy Report: Discussing Canada's trading relationship with Italy

Essay by mikeyarmoHigh School, 11th gradeA-, May 2004

download word file, 4 pages 4.3

Canada has a big problem, which must be considered very seriously. Their largest international trading partner, the United States of America currently receives 80.3% of Canada's total exports while 73% of Canada's total imports come from the USA. While this may seem favourable since the two countries are neighbours, it is unwise for Canada to rely so heavily on one trading partner. This leaves much room for other countries to start trading on a larger scale with Canada. One international trading partner that Canada should focus on is Italy. Italy has the world's six-largest GDP ($1,200 trillion Euros) and has several key industries including automobiles, furniture, clothing and textiles, leather goods and footwear (Marchese). By Canada increasing its trading relationship with Italy, they could diversify where they export and import and help improve their balance of trades.

Italy is located in southern Europe and is surrounded by the Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian, Ionian and Adriatic Sea's.

Like Canada, they are a democratic country with a mixed-market economic system. The population is 57.6 million. Italy has few natural resources, which benefits Canada, which is a large exporter of natural resources and raw materials. This is shown since 17 of the top 25 exports that Canada trades with Italy are natural resources. These exports give Canada $874,547,000 of the $1,486,820,000 it receives in exchange for exports to Italy (CAD). While this is a significant amount, it is only one-third of the amount that the United States makes off of exporting natural resources with Italy ($2,448,091,000 CAD). If Canada increases its trading with Italy, Canada's overall economic well being will improve since its Gross Domestic Product will have risen due to a surplus in the balance of trades. Italy will also benefit from exporting from Canada rather than the US because the Euro is worth...