Canada Beefs Up Trade Ties with Latin America, the Caribbean

Canada is importing an increasingly larger amount of goods from South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, according to Statistics Canada, a state-run agency.

Trade flow between Canada and South American countries has grown in double digits over the past months, especially with Brazil, Chile and Venezuela.

Imports of South American products jumped 24 percent in the first seven months of the ongoing year, while purchases made in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean shot up 14.6 percent overall.

Canadian exports to South America flared up again and increased by 34.2 percent. There was a 23.8 percent increment in the case of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

These figures, though, are still way below the trade volume between Canada and the U.S., a country that sucks in a whopping 80 percent of all Canadian exports and provides 70 percent of its imports.

Unlike other world regions, Canada is paying more heed to hemispheric neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean as investors from the North American nation keep swarming over the entire zone.

In the case of Panama, Statistics Canada reported a $306 million spike in commercial operations in 2003, compared to only $4 million the year before.