http://emerginggrowth.com/featured_stories/u-s-economic-growth-beats-estimates/08/22/2013
As technological advancements are progressing in the US, the trend of oversea production for textiles and clothing is making a gradual move away from Asian countries and towards North America. Companies such as Merchant House International, a large scale footwear company, are looking to open new production plants in the US. Taking costs into consideration, the company sees a greater profit in North American based plants due to the lower transportation costs, consumer proximity, and an increase in quality of the goods being produced. Unfortunately due to the rising Canadian dollar, and lack of Canadian production growth, Canada is missing it’s opportunity to utilize companies like Merchant House due to the US’s technological competitive advantages. Canada has been lagging in technological innovation because of it’s heavy dependency on US businesses; Canadian companies “middle-man” positions in the supply chains of US companies have impeded their ability to innovate and expand as an independent country.Canada’s lacking production capacity, in combination with plummeting shares in the US market may prove to be quite destructive to the Canadian economy. Careful considerations need to be made my Canadian business with regards to innovation and technological advancements if the Canada wants to stay a key player in the global market.