Canadian Trade Historical timeline

1900's-Present

Canadian Trade Historical Timeline

1993: N.A.F.T.A. (North American Free Trade Agreement) created.

• Goal is to eliminate terrifs between Canada, U.S, and Mexico.
• Bad part of the agreement was that initially many people lost their jobs to Mexico because it was cheaper to manufacture their goods there.

1994: Summit of the America's

• 34 democracies of Central and South America agreed to the "Free Trade of the America's" (F.T.A.A.)
• Venzuela, Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil declined.
• Looking for an agreement that will decrease poverty

2008: N.A.F.T.A. agreement eliminates all tariffs between U.S and Mexico.

• Prior to the N.A.F.T.A. agreement, Canada did very little trade with Central and South America.

1400-1500's

1497: John Cabot lands in Newfoundland in search for exotic spices.

• Finds bountiful supply of fish instead.

1500's: Europeans focused on building settlements and expanding their trade market.

• Tried trading with Asian market, but trading route to the east was too dangerous due to Turkey being powerful at the time
• Travelled west in hopes of finding a safer route to Asia.
• The European sailors found North America.
• An abundance of natural resources as well as plentiful supply of fish and fur.
• Started trading with the natives for fur.
• Beaver fur was very valuable because it was durable and waterproof. and it was easy to shape.

1300's

• First trade regulations
• Guilds were big influences in trading in towns
• Guilds were run by craftsmen and merchants
• Some guilds held the same amount of power as the town government
• In some cases the guilds were more powerful than the government

1800's

1600-1700's

Samuel de Champlain

• Sent by the french to permanently settle in Canada.
• French government wanted riches from the fur trade
• Established a successful monopoly over the fur trade which lasted almost 100 years
• Until the French lost to the British to see who could control Canada.

Interdependence between Europe and Canada.

• Canada traded Fish, Fur, Wheat, Metals and Wood with Europe
• Europe Gave Canada Stylish clothing, Household furniture, Manufactured goods, and Precision tools.

1770's: Canada began to compete with the U.S in fur trade.

• The North West Company vs. The American Fur Company

1816: U.S government passed a "protectionist" law making it illegal for Canadians to trade fur in the U.S

1812: The Hudsan's Bay Company and the North West Company merged to create "HBC"

• The most powerful company on the continent at the time.

1840: Silk replaced fur as the popular fabric

• Beaver stocks were depleted
• Canada increased trade with the U.S
• Fur had lost its significance

1867: Canada became an indipendent nation to prevent unification with the U.S

• Canada's natural resources became internationally traded goods

1885: Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) complete

• Stretches from the east coast to west coast of Canada.
• Able to transport goods across the country faster