Canadians not the only ones peeved over 'Buy American'

Buy Canadian...Buy American...Buy Mexican...Buy China
Im old enought to remember mom & pop stores ruled the roost of our consumerism habits - they provided for small communities for what was in demand. My mother went to the butcher to get meat, the farmer to get produce, bought material from the old lady who ran the fabric store to make our clothes, and to the local market for anything else that was necessary for her family of seven. My grandfather built a boat when he wanted to have a boat. While it has always been a dog eat dog world, we have been trained to want the need and need the want and the abuse of consumerism has trapped us all.
I think the problem lies much more deeply than buying locally/nationally.
In a world where business and big company entities have far greater worth and value than human beings have - it is a wonder everything has not imploded much sooner than it had. Did we really think we could ride the rails of luxury and excess for a lifetime?
So when the world... globalization some call it, rears its angry monetary head, most of us hunker down and hold on to our beliefs of keeping our hard earned dollars in the country in which we live.
It is a wonderful thought to think we can do this - I wish I could personally.
I am trapped in a time where I am forced to make a decision of smart shopping versus whats the right thing to do shopping - something is not right when; one store chain has a greater wealth base than many countries on this planet, yet the cost put out in labour and material is nothing compared to their profitability, the bottom line, money.
But before we ask the question of my country, your country, their country, shouldnt we ask the question about the unity of the planet and which role every human being can contribution to make this a better place for us all to live in? And like my desire to buy local, this too falls to the sidelines of what the world really is, and to me it is a sad thing indeed.

Perhaps the goal is to diversify and strengthen the CDN economy AND help the US economy up. Without the US economy going well the CDN economy will never reach it's full potential. As much as we might like to lie to ourselves geography & culture alone dictate that the US will always be a massive part of our economy. They can 'buy American' but only if they still produce it, and when it comes to Tar sands, Uranium, Nickel, Hydroelectricity, Maple syrup, Blackberry's, Ballard fuel cells, etc.....

some of this articles are naive ie we should get closer to the EU and Asia and do trade. the only thing is 60% of these markets are amereican companies.
in addition why is everybody always bashing the Americans? Why is it ok for the USA, Cnanada and the EU to let Toyota, Nissan and Honda to build factories in the USA, Canada and the EU but Japan does not let GM, Ford, Chrysler, Mercedes, BMW......etc to build factories in Japan?????!!!!!
The general public is soooo naive.
It seems to be ok that we Canadians purchase all the cheap, copied Chinese made stuff in addition with a huge trade inbalance in China 's favour; makes me laugh; why dosnt the public wake up and do some Japanese and Chinese bashing instead? What did the Japanese or the Chinese ever do for us. I own my own businesses in Canada and employees driving Japanese cars will be laid of first in this recession.

Look, it's the way of the world nowadays...money is power, and the more you have the better. So companies spend pennies to make their goods overseas, and honestly it's a logical choice to do so. They are in the business to secure their lifestyle, not yours or mine or anyone else's. We still have PLENTY of Canadian companies and assets that continue to add to our economy by locally manufacturing goods. Do you think that because many products are made overseas that our workforce is heavily impacted? Not really, since jobs are still required to ship, receive, market, sell, advertise, and maintenance the products. These business procedures are not going to change. It's funny, because for their country where the economy is much more stable than its southern neighbours, most Canadians think they are headed for financial ruin. Perhaps, instead of worrying about manufacturing locations, we should focus on how many people continue to use credit when they can't afford it. There are loads of decent paying jobs out there available if you are willing to work for them, so try getting one before you opt for that limit increase on your Visa. The government gives you countless options for SAVING money while you continue to enjoy a modest lifestyle, so get up from in front of this computer and take advantage of some of them. Our country isn't going anywhere, our natural resource assets alone will secure a long and prosperous future for Canada. So, like the corporations and large businesses of our great nation, pull up your big-boy pants, stop complaining and worry about yourself.

sounds good to buy Canadian products. But, how many Canadians would work for the wages of Mexican factory workers or those in China or India? The cost of living is much too high in Canada. This problem needs to be addressed first. It's the problem of living in the first world, if we made the products we couldn't afford most of them.

The USA created this world economic mess, so the worst thing they can do is have any type of protectionism. Free Trade works and has worked for years. Do not punish the rest of the world for American mistakes and greed.

We need to work together in this world not against each other. Imagine if the USA also had a free trade agreement with China and India, a lot of people think this would get the USA out of it's recession real fast. China and India have a huge population and love American products. They are the two countries that will lead the world in wealth and growth.

Carmen

I think that while many of you have your hearts in the right place, perhaps you're not aware of the realities of running a business in Canada. Labour costs are typically the biggest cost to any business, and when you compare the cost of labour here to abroad, the differences are staggering. A base salary in a metropolitan city might be 40K for a somewhat skilled position, vs, 10k in a latin american country, the east or elsewhere. So thats a 4:1 ratio! Now let's assume that the same product or service built in canada is only double the cost of one built outside the country. How many of you will in all honesty, purchase a product at double the price because it is made in Canada? Not very many, given the current state of manufacturing business here! As a Canadian, I would love to be able to buy Canadian most of the time - but I simply can not afford it! Sure, it's better quality, but seriously, unless you are wealthy, when items are north of $100 I start making decisions based on my bucks. Sure I buy local veggies and groceries, and patronize the smaller players in my community, but larger Canadian companies will not get my business unless they can produce a comparable product at a somewhat comparable price, something that is *extremely* difficult to do when you are paying Canadian wages and benefits. As an employer - I would love to be to have a purely Canadian staff, but the second I do that I'd have to close my business. How does the Canadian public, and generally the public of all westernized countries, expect loca/Canadianl businesses to survive when you are all looking for the bottom doller?

I could ramble on and on about how different things would be if canada existed on another planet...but we live in a world ecomony, and quite frankly I think it's darn near impossible to reverse that trend. Do we all agree that we all benefit from better products with global competition, innovations of other countries, etc. I certainly agree with a few of the above posters that *if* we can compete on a global scale - we should, and the government should do what it can to support this.

We are all guilty of buying for price rather than where its made. It makes me upset to see "made in China " on practically everything you look at. There is nothing Canadain about Canadain Tire !!!But its all about the price. What us short sighted canadains cant seem to grasp is that we are going to pay the price no matter what!! Buy canadain and support our industry even if it cost you more or buy chinese and get taxed higher to support the unemployed workers. The money all comes from one place .. our pockets.We are also short sighted about the Americans ... slow learners that we are. They dont care about their own work force never mind the impact on Canada. They live for the short term gain and the boom/bust cycle .. Hell they sold China the manufactering knowledge that put many US comapnys out of business!So dont be suprised that they are beating the"buy US " drum now. Ever since the Deifenbaker goverment caved in to US threats about the Avro Arrow , we have been seen as weak and riding on the coat tails of the US. Not even smart enough to learn the moves of the owner of that coat. Oh did you hear the one about the goverments that bailed out a giant auto manufacter, only to have the exce's of that company strike a deal to import chinese auto and award themselves millions in bonuses for a job well done!! not yet?? stay tune !

Remember the "Coalition of Losers" (they lost the election,here in Canada) Where are they ,what are they doing,where are ALL those good ideas they said they had to "save" Canada ?What are they buying.Are there incentives to buy Canadian,solar,wind power,geo-thermal (made in Canada ) ???If we put as much into our health system to clear backlogs as we did to help the car industry(that was an enormous waste of our money)...Soon they will be out for summe(the politiciansr),why is that? Have we solved any problems other than lost documents ?Somethings are definitly wrong,don't you think.Some cities like Victoria BC are still dumping their RAW SEWAGE at sea,Is New York, NY still dumping all their garbage out at sea ?Is anyone there ?

How about when you post the job, Canadians don't apply. I know of a job that had been posted several times in Canada and almost little or no response. The same job is posted somewhere else and applications went crazy within a day. The fact that Canadians can still pick and choose means people have a choice and there's no labour shortage which is good. There're jobs, it's just that the appropriate jobs aren't where the candidates with the right skills are.
If you have a business and you can only depend on Canadian labour, you better have thousand extra resumes you can call any second 'cos I also discover that Canadians like to walk off the job the very moment they don't agree with you instead of working things out. How's that going to help any business especially the mom and pop stores.

I agree with what several people have already said, that we Canadians should try as often as possible to buy locally. The way I see it, the less we depend on the American economy to bolster our own, the better (though more Americans should learn to recognize that they depend on our's just as much). That being said, it's obviously impossible for us or most of the world's other major nations to survive without the help of the American economy. I can understand why Americans want to restrict their trade at the moment. They need to get their economy back on its feet before they can really get back into the game...the problem is, recessions don't end over night. These are hard times for people all over the world and I think a lot of other countries besides the U.S. are trying to help themselves before helping others because it has sort of become every nation for themselves in terms of recovery. In a perfect world, Canada could sustain its own economy without the help of the U.S., but our world isn't perfect at all and the truth is that we DO need them and they need us. When push comes to shove, I personally feel that the Americans need to face the music and keep the trade lines open between our two countries. I think the best thing we can do right now is help each other.

After Dec 21, 2021 it all isn't going to matter anymore....N Korea is going to start it

I think its a great idea ~!!!!!!!! This means that they wont buy any of our natural gas , 75% of the tar sands production our lumber and minerals .

Let them buy American and freeze and starve in the dark on their own resouirces
The whole idea of them buying our resources is to save theirs for the future when ours runs out.

This will mean more for us Canadians if they dont buy our resources ~! yahooooooo go for it ~!

Canadians have may skills. When the company said they were shutting down and moving to Mexico or some other country why didn't our government buy out the companies and allow the workers to invest in their own companies. Recently I bought a product that use to be made in Canada it use to have a name you could trust because it was made in Canada. They went to the States and started to make their product with cheap inferior products. I am getting my money back but will never again buy anothe of their products. Canadain products use to be quality not quantity we need to go back and sell our quality products and make sure that other countries can no longer buy our companies or have any controlling interest in them.

I hear many complaints from Canadians. Now that the U.S. unemployment rate is over 9%, maybe the U.S. should end all of the H, J, L and TN visas that allow Canadians (and others) to live and work in the U.S. Then the F (student) visas could be changed not allowing students to work in the U.S. after graduation. This would enable more U.S. citizens to work in these jobs, lowering the unemployment rate, and then they could buy from anywhere.

I think we concentrate to much on who does what to whom. Canadian buying yes. Local Yes. However if a better price or better product is out there than that is freedom of choice. One of the things that comes to surface all the time is the UNION facotr. They keep raising salaries to an extreme that the consumer can not afford any longer. Everytime the union raises salaries and benefits it costs the purchaser, whether it be cars, healthcare, whatever unions take over. Maybe the fight should be with them and what crime they are laying out for the purchaser. Or maybe the government should look at some of it's union type salaries or MLA's that get life pensions after so many little years. How many things can we address that would make a difference in our own political economy and world.

I feel that we Canadians have let ourselves get far too dependent on America for everything and we must diversify our trade/culture away from America. A good starting point would be joining the EU. I understand our government has commenced talking about accession with Brussels. Well done!

We also need to look far more to the other countries that are quite a lot more like us than America is from a cultural point of view, namely the UK, Australia and New Zealand. When talking to people from these countries, one realizes that most all of the values that we cherish as Canadians are also cherished in these countries, such as socialised medicine, supporting the underdog, a strong belief in a social safety net within the capitalist system, not placing a value on another based on the amount they earn or have in the bank, a live and let live outlook on life - it is fine so long as it does not hurt other people (i.e. most Canadians would be quite happy to have dope legalised even when, like me, they do not consume it at all), etc. This is not to mention the fact that Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain all share a common head of state, namely Queen Elizabeth II, who as Queen of each of these countries is the legal head of their governments with the de facto head of government in each being their respective prime ministers. In short, all of these countries are parliamentary constitutional monarchies. America of course is a congressional republic with their president being the head of state as well as the head of government.

Now that I have illustrated just how different America and Canada are in spite of a superficial similarity (i.e. similar cars and somewhat similar architecture), this is not to mean that we do not share some cultural underpinnings with them as well, such as a common language. To sum up, while I am very much in favour of diversifying our trade/cultural exchanges (i.e. tourism) away from America, this does not mean that we need to nor should we cut off these ties completely, just put them in balance! If we Canadians had more of a balance, we would not be getting our knickers in such a twist about what comes out of Washington, such as the "Buy American Policy".

Lets keep Canada our true home and patriot love!

When Canadian governments and Canadian owners of Canadian companies got so greedy and decided to sell all our companies to foreign owners, we should have seen the writing on the wall. Even a "Buy in Canada" policy is not going to help. Because we make so few manufactured goods in this country. Our natural resources are what we sell now and at the rate we are going we won't own those foir very long either.

I for one do my best to buy Canadian and American products. From cars to everyday use items. When you buy these products from "here" you are supporting our economy,our friends and neighbours. They will inturn do the same back. This is the only way that we will pull through this recession. Part of this recession is the useless people that buy import vehicles. Did you know that when a import is bought all the profits go back to china,japan or korea. Not one cent stays here. But GM ,FORD and Chrysler pay taxes, support local hospitals,the united way,schools etc. GM for one donates cars and trucks to school auto shops for the students to learn. But still some selfish, stuck-up people buy imports. WELL, IF YOUR GOING TO SUPPORT THE JAPS OR THE CHINESE

well the US should have done that along time ago when they let everything from Japan and China be sold in the US Japan didn't have to win the second world war in battle because they won it economically