Toronto is North American trade powerhouse

The Greater Toronto Area leads all other North American city-regions as a continental trading hub, says a report from the Brookings Institution. The Washington-based think tank took a look at cross-border trade in goods among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico on a city-to-city scale.

And the GTA came out as the partner in the top three city pairs. The study looked at broad city-regions – comparable to the GTA – in defining all the cities in the study. The study looked at physical goods only -- it did not include trade in services, such as financial services or engineering.

The biggest city trading partners in North America are the GTA and the New York-Northern New Jersey region, the study found. Total trade of goods was worth $3.688 billion. All figures are for 2010. Toronto-Detroit came next, at $3.654 billion, followed by Toronto-Chicago at $2.876 billion. Vehicles and parts were the main category of goods traded in the top three pairings, the study found.

The Calgary-Houston pair was next on the list, at $2.635 billion, with crude oil the mainstay of trade...

Another big Canada-U.S. pair was Montreal-New York ($1.868 billion, led by trade in electronics). But the GTA held the next three places, paired with Houston, Los Angeles and Dallas-Forth Worth.

The study urged governments to update infrastructure at border crossing points, such as bridges and roads, to allow for better movement of goods. It also urged streamlining regulation and customs paperwork to speed goods on their way.

This has been excerpted from 7 November 2013 article by The Star, and is available in its entirety at: http://www.thestar.com/business/economy/2013/11/07/toronto_is_north_american_trade_powerhouse_report.html.