SASKATOON (Staff) — In 1990 Canada entered into a data exchange agreement with the United States. It was supposed to make Canadian export statistics more reliable, but some contend it has had the opposite effect.
Instead of keeping track of exports to the United States, Canadian officials rely on U.S. Customs to provide them with import statistics. The philosophy behind this administrative change is that countries are more interested in what comes in than what goes out and therefore import statistics are more reliable than export figures.
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“The net result was that while we knew precisely how much was being cleared into the United States for use there, we lost track of everything that was being routed through the United States,” said Brian Clancey, publisher of the Vancouver-based STAT newsletter.
Problem investigated
Bob Gordon, with the international trade division of Statistics Canada, said this is a growing problem that is under investigation.
In the late 1980s the United States deregulated its transportation industry. Since then, more and more Canadian goods have been flowing south of the border for shipment to overseas markets.
“We have reason to believe we may be under-reporting some exports to countries other than the U.S. and perhaps over-reporting exports to the U.S.,” said Gordon.
He said U.S. customs brokers find it easier to clear goods into the States and then re-export them to their final destination rather than keeping them in-transit all the way through.
Once they are cleared into the U.S. they become an American import statistic and show up on Statistics Canada’s books as an export to the wrong country.
