Iowa

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• Canada–U.S. trade supports more than 7 million U.S. jobs
• Total Canada–U.S. merchandise trade: $557 billion
• Canada is Iowa's top export market
• 78,000 Iowa jobs are supported by Canada–U.S. trade
• Canadians made more than 93,800 visits to Iowa, spending $17 million
• Iowa residents made 105,800 visits to Canada, spending $54 million

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A close relationship

In 2008, the state of Iowa and Canada continued their mutually beneficial trading relationship. Trade in goods between the two amounted to $7.7 billion. An estimated 78,000 jobs in Iowa are attributed to Canada–U.S. trade.

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Success stories

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) transports goods such as bulk commodities, merchandise freight, and intermodal containers over a network of 13,200 miles across the U.S. and Canada. About 28% of CP’s business moves between the two countries.

Co-operative agreements with all major North American railroads allow CP to provide service for its customers throughout Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Canadian Pacific previously operated in Iowa and returned when it acquired the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad in 2008. It has almost 400 employees in Iowa.

Canadian National Railway (CN) joins CP with a significant presence in Iowa. CN is the only railroad that crosses the continent east-west and north-south, offering access to ports on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts.

CN employs more than 6,600 people in its U.S. operations, with about 240 employees in Iowa. CN's Iowa operations directly serve the cities of Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Fort Dodge, Sioux City, and Council Bluffs, and CN partners with short-line railroads in Iowa to provide customers on those lines access to CN's North American rail network.

One third of Iowa exports move north to Canada and the majority of those products are farm machinery. Iowa’s expertise in manufacturing has drawn the interest of Canadian companies. In 2007, Salford Farm Machinery, a major manufacturer of farm equipment from Ontario, purchased Mac-Lander, Inc., a trailer manufacturer in Osceola, IA. This allowed Salford to add Mac-Lander’s quality products to its line of equipment offerings and strengthen both companies’ bottom lines.

August 2009

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For more information on Canada’s trade with Iowa, please contact:

Consulate General of Canada
701 Fourth Avenue South, Suite 900 • Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: (612) 333-4641 • Fax: (612) 332-4061

Consulate General of Canada
180 N. Stetson Avenue, Suite 2400 • Chicago, IL 60601-6714
Phone: (312) 616-1860 • Fax: (312) 616-1878

Job numbers are based on 2005 data from a 2006 study: Baughman, Laura M. and François, Joseph, U.S.–Canada Trade and U.S. State-Level Production and Employment — An Update, in Trade Policy Research 2006, pp.159-186. All other figures are based on 2008 data in U.S. dollars. World Institute for Strategic Economic Research (WISER): Canada’s export ranking (February 28, 2009). U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis: services (June 2009 release), investment (July 2009 release). Statistics Canada: trade (February 2009 release), tourism (May 2009 release). Trade and tourism figures are converted at the rate of US$1.00=C$1.0660. Figures may not add up due to rounding. Produced by the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.