President Trump, We've Got A Deal For You

In a new trade agreement we'll commit that every Canadian will buy 8 times from the US what each American buys from Canada.

What if every Canadian commited to buy 8 times as much from Ameria as Americans buy from Canada?

AI Image - Not Actual Canadians Shopping (Obvs.)

Sound good? Great! Because—newsflash—that’s already the reality.

Dear President Trump,

We’re doing our best OK? We’re already buying everything we possibly can from you. We’re maxed out. Tapped. Spent. Each of us is already dropping over $11,000 a year on American goods and services. That’s more than some of us spend on parkas and touques. More than we spend on hockey gear, maple syrup, and emergency moose collision repairs combined. At this point, we’re just stuffing our basements with spare Ford F-150s and industrial-sized buckets of Franks Red Hot and Burbon to keep the numbers up.

Aside from what Mom is holding in reserve for emergency beaver dam removal we’ve even spent the inheritance.

Meanwhile, the average American is picking up a measly $1,400 worth of Canadian goods. What are you guys even buying? A few Tim Hortons double-doubles and some Molson on your way to Niagara Falls? Come on! Go all in on that decorative bottle of maple syrup from the airport duty-free. Tell your mom it's perfume. Maybe buy a tragically expensive Banff souvenir sweatshirt after an ill-advised horseback ride? You could have the most interesting kid on the block with an Anne of Green Gables Halloween costume… though that would probably be made in China, so…

Look, we’re trying. We really are. I've been to Walmart twice this week. Maybe we can set up some kind of GoFundMe for the U.S. economy where every famously generous Canadian donates. But we’ve got limits. We’ve got mortgages. We’ve got poutine and donair habits to support. At this point, the only way we could buy more is if you started charging us for snow.

So please, cut us some slack. We’re doing our best, OK?

Sincerely,
Your Best Customer, Canada

Here’s the Deal…

In 2022, the latest year for which all the data is in,

• U.S. Exports to Canada: $427.7 billion in goods and services

• U.S. Imports from Canada: $481.2 billion in goods and services

Canada had 38 Million people

USA had 332 Million people

Each Canadian, on average, buys over $11,000 worth of American goods and services every year, while each American buys just $1,400 worth from Canada.

There’s a trade imbalance alright. A big one. But it’s the opposite of what Trump has been saying over the week end. Every Canadian buys nearly 8 times more from the U.S. than each American buys from Canada.

The per capita trade imbalance has remained consistent over many years, with Canadians consistently purchasing significantly more from the U.S. than vice versa. While the exact multiple varies slightly year by year, the trend underscores every Canadian’s super sized contribution to U.S. trade.

Here’s the math of how we get there…

Step 1: Finding Total Trade Between Canada and the U.S.

From the most recent data available (2022):

• U.S. Exports to Canada: $427.7 billion

• U.S. Imports from Canada: $481.2 billion

• Total Trade Between the Two Countries: 427.7B+481.2B=908.9B

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Step 2: Breaking It Down Per Capita

To compare fairly, we divide the total trade by each country’s population.

Canada’s Imports from the U.S. (Per Capita)

$427.7B / 38.25M=11,185 (USD per person in Canada)

U.S. Imports from Canada (Per Capita)

$481.2B / 332M=1,449 (USD per person in the U.S.)

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Step 3: Finding the Multiple

Now, we compare how much a Canadian buys from the U.S. versus how much an American buys from Canada:

11,185/1,449≈7.72

This means, on average, a Canadian buys nearly 8 times more from the U.S. than an American buys from Canada.

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Step 4: Percentage Increase

To express the difference in percentage terms:

(11,185−1,449/1,449)×100=672

So Canadians buy 672% more per capita from the U.S. than Americans buy from Canada—which is effectively nearly 8 times, or rounded up in the direction we’re going, “10X.”

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In Other Words…

• Every Canadian buys $11,185 worth of U.S. goods/services per year.

• Every American buys $1,449 worth of Canadian goods/services per year.

• This means Canada already trades at a rate nearly 8X higher per person than the U.S. does with us.

This is the real math behind the claim. No spin, no guesswork—just cold, hard numbers.

How Can Canada Afford to Buy So Much More from the U.S.?

(And Why This is About More Than Just Trade Balances)

This is the story of Value Added and Profit in a Capitalist system

At first glance, it might seem crazy that Canadians buy 8 times more per person from the U.S. than Americans buy from Canada. How is that even possible? Where does the money come from? The answer lies in Canada’s economy and how trade actually works.

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Canada’s Economic Model: Dig, Drill, Cut, and Ship

Canada’s economy is fundamentally different from the U.S. in one key way: we are a resource-based economy. That means a huge portion of what we produce and sell to the world comes from natural resources, such as:

Oil & Gas – Alberta’s oil sands and offshore drilling in Newfoundland
Forestry & Lumber – B.C.’s timber and Atlantic Canada’s pulp & paper
Mining – Nickel, copper, gold, uranium, and rare earth minerals
Agriculture & Fishing – Wheat, canola, beef, seafood (lobster, salmon, crab)

The U.S., in contrast, has a much more diversified economy with a massive service sector, tech industry, finance, and finished manufacturing.

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The Flow of Money: Why We Buy More from the U.S.

Here’s how the cycle works in simple terms:

1️⃣ Canada extracts and exports raw materials (oil, gas, timber, minerals, food).
2️⃣ The U.S. buys those resources to fuel its industries, homes, and supply chains.
3️⃣ Canada takes that money and spends it on finished American goods and services, like cars, machinery, electronics, software, and even Hollywood movies.

💡 Think of it like this: Canada is the supplier of fuel and raw ingredients, while the U.S. is the supplier of finished goods and services.

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So, Is This a Bad Thing?

Not necessarily! This is how trade is supposed to work. Canada has fewer people but a huge landmass rich in resources. The U.S. has more people and massive production capacity. We sell them resources, and they sell us goods—a natural partnership.

But when politicians like Trump claim Canada is “ripping off” America, the numbers show the opposite. If anything, Canada is America’s best customer.

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The Big Picture

Canada makes money by exporting natural resources.
We use that money to buy finished goods and services—mostly from the U.S. as much as each person can afford… and more.

Trade isn’t a scam—it’s a partnership. And we’re already holding up more than our share of the deal. Let’ just find the right balance.

38 Million people in Canada simply can not buy as much as 334 Million people in the USA… but goodness knows we try.