[xtypo_dropcap]M[/xtypo_dropcap]ost Canadian businesses would be willing to pay more to buy from Canadian suppliers rather than import less expensive goods from overseas, a series of surveys has found.
Sixty-three percent of Canadian business decision makers surveyed said they would prefer to support the domestic economy even if doing so meant impacting their bottom line, according to the surveys conducted by Leger Marketing on behalf of UPS.
This data corroborate results from previous phases of the study, in which nearly 40 percent of small to medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) said they should restrain their commerce to within Canadian borders to bolster the country’s already strong competitiveness.
In addition, 51 percent of SMEs believed that the federal government should set tariffs to discourage overseas exporters from tapping into the Canadian market.
While this patriotism is inspiring, “it is also a bit of a red flag,” said Pat Stanghieri, UPS Canada’s vice-president of marketing, in a news release presenting the survey findings.
“The reality is that competing businesses based in other countries—including the United States–are leveraging the lower cost of goods and labour in emerging economies to achieve competitive price advantages,” Stanghieri said.
The study also found that the majority of Canadian businesses, both large and small, are reluctant to invest in internationalizing their companies.
“We were surprised to learn that 55 percent of decision makers at large Canadian companies weren’t willing to make any investment at all into taking their company beyond Canada’s borders,” said Stanghieri, who also noted that 43 percent of SMEs think that only large corporations engage in global trade.
Meanwhile, to counter Canada’s trade deficit, its highest in a generation, respondents most often cited that the most effective means was to focus on manufacturing high-tech and value-added products while moving away from reliance on the country’s natural resource base.
The next most-often cited means was to establish more government incentives to engage business in trade.
“It’s clear that for many businesses, going beyond Canada’s borders is unlikely unless there’s little financial risk on their part. Much of that stems from the common misperception that global trade is an expensive endeavour,” said Stanghieri.
“The truth is global trade can be very affordable if businesses leverage already existing third-party supply chain infrastructure so that they don’t have to invest in their own.”
The survey, conducted from Nov. 8 to 29, 2010, polled 300 businesses across Canada and a variety of industries.
Sixty-three percent of Canadian business decision makers surveyed said they would prefer to support the domestic economy even if doing so meant impacting their bottom line, according to the surveys conducted by Leger Marketing on behalf of UPS.
This data corroborate results from previous phases of the study, in which nearly 40 percent of small to medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) said they should restrain their commerce to within Canadian borders to bolster the country’s already strong competitiveness.
In addition, 51 percent of SMEs believed that the federal government should set tariffs to discourage overseas exporters from tapping into the Canadian market.
While this patriotism is inspiring, “it is also a bit of a red flag,” said Pat Stanghieri, UPS Canada’s vice-president of marketing, in a news release presenting the survey findings.
“The reality is that competing businesses based in other countries—including the United States–are leveraging the lower cost of goods and labour in emerging economies to achieve competitive price advantages,” Stanghieri said.
The study also found that the majority of Canadian businesses, both large and small, are reluctant to invest in internationalizing their companies.
“We were surprised to learn that 55 percent of decision makers at large Canadian companies weren’t willing to make any investment at all into taking their company beyond Canada’s borders,” said Stanghieri, who also noted that 43 percent of SMEs think that only large corporations engage in global trade.
Meanwhile, to counter Canada’s trade deficit, its highest in a generation, respondents most often cited that the most effective means was to focus on manufacturing high-tech and value-added products while moving away from reliance on the country’s natural resource base.
The next most-often cited means was to establish more government incentives to engage business in trade.
“It’s clear that for many businesses, going beyond Canada’s borders is unlikely unless there’s little financial risk on their part. Much of that stems from the common misperception that global trade is an expensive endeavour,” said Stanghieri.
“The truth is global trade can be very affordable if businesses leverage already existing third-party supply chain infrastructure so that they don’t have to invest in their own.”
The survey, conducted from Nov. 8 to 29, 2010, polled 300 businesses across Canada and a variety of industries.
