BusinessTN

Americans are, by nature, myopic when it comes to the world beyond our borders--ask any world geography teacher. To its credit, the business community embraces a more expansive view, hence China's ascendancy to darling status among forward-looking trade moguls around the country, Tennessee in particular. Nashville, understandably, has been eager to enable that ascendancy, but Canada's ambassador to the United States came to Memphis in Mid-November to remind business leaders that the Great White North is really a green, green valley.

"The trade relations between Canada and the United States and Canada and Tennessee are number one," Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson said following a reception at the Peabody Hotel for business leaders and local officials during a U.S. trade visit to Memphis. By "number one," the Ambassador was referring to the fact that the Canada-U.S. trade relationship is the largest in the world--and the Canada-Tennessee trade relationship is the largest in the country. Canada tops Tennessee's next five trading partners (including China) combined, exporting more than $9 billion dollars in goods here last year while importing more than $5 billion. The relationship supports more than 146,000 jobs in this state, according to the embassy.

The ambassador was cautiously hopeful that, under the new White House administration, this trend will continue.

"The Obama campaign focused in the written literature on the labor environment agreements," Wilson, referring to the president-elect's softening stance on renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, explains. "We're going to have to see what their ideas are as they get into governing, and we're obviously prepared to listen, but we do not think it necessary to make changes and think it's important to find ways to make this work. Once something like this gets into Congress and Parliament, you don't know what's going to happen."

The Ambassador implied that renegotiating trade agreements could affect U.S. gas prices. Wilson, quoting the Financial Times, says Canada produces some five million barrels of crude oil a day. That is almost half the total amount the U.S. imports from other countries.

"People should not forget how expensive oil was."

The Memphis trade visit was spearheaded by state Sen. Mark Norris, chairman of the Southern Legislative Conference Economic Development, Transportation and Cultural Affairs Committee. The effort is a continuing attempt to create what Norris terms a Southeastern United States Trade Association with Canada, but he points out that the trip highlights the burgeoning relationship between Canada and Memphis. Built upon the Gateway Project with CN Railways, the connection may make Memphis the main access point for what is the largest trade relationship in the world--a relationship that will likely grow, considering Canada is the largest energy provider for both Tennessee and the United States.