Comunidad del pacífico en perspectiva - Volumen 2

Tm MAiIN THRUST OF CANADA'S RELATIONS wlm ••• Vietnam War. In general, we have striven to maintain good rela– tions with aH. 3. Economic cooperation in the Paci¡ic The abiding Canadian interest in the area over the last 30 years has been economic. Our trade relations with the regíon real1y took off after the signing of the Canadian-Japanese Trade Agreement of 1954. Statistics for the most recent decade indicate the rapid growth in Canada's trade with Pacific Rim countries. For instance, in 1950, Canadian ~xports to Japan amounted to only 20 million dollars l and imports to .$ 12 million. By 1977, exports had risen to .$ 2.5 billion and imports to .$ 1.8 billion: a dramatic increase by any standard of comparison. Between 1967 and 1977 Canadian exports to the whole Pacific area rose from about $ 950 million to approximately .$ 4,000 million. In the same period, imports increased even more dramatically: from approximately $ 535 million to roughly .$ 3,400 million. Current two-way trade with the Western Pacific Rim now represents 8.7 per cent of Canada's global trade, compared with 6.7 per cent in 1967. By 1973, Japan had surpassed the United Kingdom as Canada's second leading export market, following the United States. In 1977, Japan accounted for 62.9 per cent of Canada's exports to the Western Pacific Rim, and for 52.1 per cent of Canadian imports from the regíon. Australia occupied second place in terms of two– way trade, followed by the Republic of Korea, China, Taiwán, Hong-Kong and New Zealand. Canada's trade with the Pacific Rim has been dominated by the export of large volumes of unprocessed raw materials, such as minerals and foodstuffs, while the bulk of Canadian imports from the region have been finished goods or end products. For instance. less than 3 per cent of our exports to J apan are finished products. 98