The sheer volume of trade between Canada and the US means the economies benefit reciprocally from each other’s strength, with some states counting on good trade with Canada to fuel their own prosperity.
Michigan
Few economies in the United States are as linked to Canada as Michigan. The prosperous automotive industry plays a huge role in this symbiotic relationship. Cars, trucks, construction equipment, and even electronics cross into Canada through Detroit and Windsor daily through the Ambassador Bridge.
Many of these automotive parts cross the border several times during the manufacturing process. Canada is Michigan’s number one export market, and the trade relationship sustains hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the state.
Vermont
Bordering Canada directly, Vermont is powered in large part by clean energy imported from Canada and millions of tourists visiting every year. Hydro-Québec sends the majority of Vermont’s imported electricity, while millions of Canadian visitors spend money at ski resorts, hotels, and small businesses along Route 7 every year.
Commercially, Canada buys nearly one-third of Vermont’s goods exported internationally, primarily from manufacturers in aerospace, semiconductors, and electronics.
North Dakota
With heavy dependence on agriculture and energy production, North Dakota trades billions of dollars’ worth of crude oil, natural gas, farm products and heavy machinery across the Canada-U.S. border every year.
Integrated across a shared agriculture industry, the United States and Canada process tens of billions of dollars of wheat, soybeans, and canola produced in North Dakota. Geographically, Canada is the destination for 80% of all North Dakota goods sent to international markets.
Ohio
Canada is one of the largest buyers of Ohio’s industrial economy. Approximately one-third of the products from Ohio that are exported are manufactured goods, machinery, engines, and plastics. Every year, Canada and Ohio exchange around $20 billion worth of goods.
The state’s large manufacturing and metalworking economies owe a lot of their success to trade with Canada. There are also hundreds of companies based in Canada that are located directly in Ohio.
Montana
Sharing an 877-kilometer (544-mile) border with Canada, Montana considers Canada to be its most important trading partner by far. Goods leaving Montana are mostly raw materials destined for further processing, such as coal, crude petroleum, beef, and grain. Canada buys more than half of all goods exported from Montana.
Border communities as well as Montana’s national parks receive much of their hospitality and tourism business from Canadians throughout the year.
Illinois
Illinois is a large midwestern powerhouse with supply chains strongly linked to Canada’s natural resources. The state receives vast quantities of crude oil from western Canada, sending billions of dollars’ worth of heavy bitumen directly to several state refineries that have the capacity to process it.
Illinois also exports large quantities of farming machinery, heavy equipment, and finished pharmaceutical products back to Canada through these intricate supply chains, keeping Canada as a cornerstone of the state’s economy that sustains tens of thousands of jobs.
Maine
Maine borders on both Quebec and New Brunswick, so Canada is Maine’s single largest international market by far, with two-way trade exceeding $6 billion per year.
Maine’s forestry and paper industries are intricately linked with Canadian suppliers, and Maine imports live Canadian lobsters and shellfish to process and prepare for export. Maine also imports billions of dollars of Canadian fuel, minerals and electricity each year.
New York
New York City may be considered a world financial capital, but New York State depends on Canada far more than any other country does. Billions of dollars’ worth of goods cross through northern border cities such as Buffalo and Champlain each year.
Canada buys billions of dollars of aluminum, machinery, and gold from New York each year. New York State also imports billions of dollars of Canadian petroleum and electricity to fuel upstate industries. Millions of Canadians also travel to New York to shop each year, keeping many local economies thriving.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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