The New - 20/20 Magazine

in January 2010, us president
obama’s announcement of a national
export initiative — a plan to double
us exports over five years — offered a
reminder of the importance of trade in
creating economic prosperity. there is
no better example of this than the
unique economic partnership shared by
canada and the us. in 2009, the
us was the destination for roughly
75 per cent of canada’s exports and
canada was the largest foreign market
for 34 of 50 us states.
our economic partnership extends
well beyond trade activity to economic
integration. the best illustrations of this
are canadian and us manufacturers
who depend on integrated supply chains
and just-in-time delivery networks that
criss-cross the border between us. this
high degree of integration is fundamental
to north america’s competitiveness in
the global marketplace, particularly in
the face of increasing pressure from
competitors in emerging economies who
are very successfully participating in
global value chains.
economic integration also means that
issues facing manufacturers will have
similar impacts on both sides of the
border. the recent global recession is
an example. the value of canada – us
two-way trade declined 24.6 per cent
from 2008 levels. other challenges
facing canadian and us firms relate to
the question of how to move people
learn more about centreport canada at
www.centreportcanada.ca
and learn more about doing business in manitoba at
www.investinmanitoba.ca
Centreport Canada
A new era in Canada-US partnership
and goods across our common border
efficiently, while ensuring the integrity
of border security systems. since the
international terrorism tragedy in 2001,
border crossings now require additional
information, documentation and more
extensive inspections. the result is
increased cost and complexity for crossborder
trade and for production relying
on imported content.
clearly, the ability of north american
firms to manage their supply chains
efficiently is critical to success in
competing globally. recognizing this,
manitoba has responded by creating
centreport canada, a new 20,000-acre
inland port anchored by one of canada’s
top cargo-handling airports.
First Foreign Trade zone
centreport is managed by centreport
canada inc., a private-sector-led
corporation, and it enjoys the support
of manitoba’s business, labour
and academic communities, the
transportation industry and the three
levels of government. centreport is
canada’s first Foreign trade zone (Ftz),
offering single-window access to Ftz
benefits, including tax and duty relief.
centreport’s footprint includes
winnipeg’s James armstrong richardson
international airport. it links with three
class-one railways — canadian national
railway, canadian pacific railway
and burlington northern santa Fe
railway. it provides quick access both
to the transcanada Highway and to
provincial Highway 75, the main route
to the canada – us border crossing at
emerson, manitoba. emerson is one
of canada’s busiest border crossings,
processing about $14 billion in trade
traffic annually.
centreport’s transportation
assets are being enhanced through
some $500 million in infrastructure
improvements, including:
• construction of centreport canada
way, a $212.5 million interstatequality
expressway linking to
winnipeg’s perimeter Highway
• upgrading of the trans-canada
Highway east and Highway 75
south; the latter leads to the
emerson border crossing and is
part of the mid-continent trade and
transportation corridor that links
canada to the us and mexico
these transportation assets and
a strategic central location allow
companies located at centreport to
manage their global supply chains
using major transportation corridors to
access markets in the naFta trading
area, europe and asia. manufacturers
have shown an early interest in
centreport based on its geographic
location, transportation links, Ftz
benefits for manufacturing inputs and
manitoba tax incentives.