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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-05-13, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13,1992. PAGE 5. Anyone care for the rest of this crow sandwich1? I'm the kind of guy who can eat just about anything that comes on a plate, but I must confess there’s one dish I have never developed the stomach for. Raw crow. I hate it when I have to eat crow - admit I'm wrong about something, I mean. But it happens. And when it happens, I reckon the best way to do it is to take a deep breath, close your eyes, pinch the nostrils shut ... and swallow. So here goes: I agree with Brian Mulroney. Wow! That tastes awful! It's true, though. I do agree with the Walking Mandible - about one thing, anyway. Tobacco. A few weeks back, a young lad from Kingston, Ontario wrote to the PM urging higher taxes on tobacco products. He got a letter back on Prime Ministerial stationery that said in part, “we don't like smoking either and we hope to tax it ouLof existence International Scene By Raymond Canon ; ' Export, export and then export... I'm not sure if I should entitle this article “How to take advantage of Trade Liberalization” but basically this is what it is all about. We have been afflicted by one of the most severe recessions since World War II and everybody is floundering around looking for answers. Since my proposals in this matter, at least as far as domestic policies are concerned, are beyond the scope of this column, I can concentrate instead on how we can cut ourselves in for a considerably higher level of prosperity that we have to date. First of all let's come to grips with certain facts. Most employment in this country is created, not by big firms, either international or domestic, but by small and medium sized Canadian companies. This is, therefore, the area that we have to look at if we are going to talk about job creation. The second fact is that the population of this country is not going to increase by leaps and bounds so that the domestic market is going to be pretty well the same 10 years from now as it is now. Some increase will, of course, be inevitable but nothing to get excited about. This leaves expansion of any great scope to the international market. If a company is going to reduce its unit costs and expand, one of the best chances of doing this is to take a hard look, if that has not already been done, at the possibilities of selling to other countries and that means not only the United States but also Europe, Japan and the other someday." The signature at the bottom of the letter read: “Brian Mulroney.” And that's what I agree with Brian Mulroney about: that the world would be a better place without the tiresome, noxious and expensive junkie tradition we refer to as smoking. I speak not as some pink-lunged ponce who wouldn't dream of sullying his lips with a ciggie. My lungs have processed more smoke than Dofasco's Number Three Smelter. For more than a quarter of a century I inhaled pretty much anything that would fit in my mouth and bum slowly. I know all about smoking. And I also don't speak as an enemy of the tobacco farmer, although I think what they do for a living is anti-social, immoral and flat-out wrong. I know I'll get letters and phone calls from tobacco farmers telling me how hard they work and how tobacco put their kids through college, but, ladies and gentlemen, let's be blunt about this: you are dealing in death. Tobacco is a drug. More addictive than heroin, according to any family doctor you care to ask. There are exactly NO health benefits from smoking. All the habit will get you is broke and, eventually, dead. En route you can expect to experience the pleasures of heart disease, emphysema, and cancers of the lung, throat, tongue and mouth. Americans fork out $52 billion in medical Pacific Rim economies. If your company's name is not exactly in the household name variety, this means that you are going to look at foreign markets in a particular way. This approach I call “niche marketing” which means that the last thing you want to be on foreign markets is all things to all people. Pick out a certain segment of a foreign market where you believe that you can be competitive and then concentrate on it. This may mean that you will have to cut down your product line in order to concentrate on this market but the economies of scale that you can achieve will more than compensate for the smaller line ol products. No two countries market their goods in the same way, so do not expect that just because you have been successful in Canada doing ii one way, the same system will work elsewhere. To cite one good example, Canadian Tire failed to do this in the United States and paid the penalty for it on the bottom line. By and large our trade commissionei service is very good and you may wish to ask them to help you in marketing your product. Just remember that, as a government agency, there is only so much that they can do but what they can do, they do well. I cannot speak highly enough of the help I get from the Canadian consulate in Dussendorf, Germany and the embassy in Berne Switzerland. I keep them informed of my activities, try new ideas out of them and in return I get the benefit of their knowledge of the local markets. No matter how well you know your product, there are certain local preferences that may negate even your best efforts to find a niche or to increase the one that you already have. While the world is moving towards further liberalization of trade, the paLh in this costs per annum trying to repair the damage smokers do to themselves. And it's not enough. Smoking kills 430,000 Americans each year. If that number is too big to visualize, try this: 1100 Americans die from smoking every day. Here in Canada, the numbers are slightly less grim. We seem to be smartening up, thanks largely to the government tax on tobacco. Only three years ago, Canadians were heavier smokers per capita than Americans. But since 1989, Canadian smokers have declined by nearly 25 per cent. Which is why I was ... (boy, it still tastes bad) almost proud of the PM when he said he'd like to “tax tobacco out of existence.” Almost ... until I read the follow up news story a few days later. Mulroney Aide Issues Apology the headline read. The story says that a prime ministerial aide had apologized for putting Brian Mulroney's name on the letter that was sent to the boy in Kingston. It's pretty obvious what happened. Tobacco farmers were outraged about the letter and protested. Mulroney realized the tobacco lobby was more valuable to him than some school kid in Kingston. Therefore, a few days later a staff flunky falls on his sword to preserve what's left of the boss's reputation. Ah, that's more like the Brian Mulroney I know! Anyone care for the rest of this crow sandwich? direction is not always smooth. So far the trend has been in the reduction of tariff barriers but there is also such a thing as a non-tariff barrier. The best example of this is the imposition of quotas but there are other less obvious ones. If there are still barriers of any sort, make sure you know what they are and whether there is any point in trying to circumvent them, legally of course. Another problem which may arise is the rate of exchange between the Canadian dollar and the currency of the country where you are trying to sell your products. An exchange rate operates under what is called Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). This means that, if you take the current exchange rate for, say, the American dollar, you should be able to buy about the same amount of goods in Canada for $1,000 as you would in the USA if you took that money and changed it into U.S. dollars. However, exchange rates do not always obey that law; if your products are too expensive for a specific market, it could well be that the Canadian dollar is overvalued with respect to that currency. Because of all this, leave yourself some space to vary your price without taking a financial blood-bath. You are likely competing against a number of countries; find out what their prices are and make your plans accordingly. Given the small size of the Canadian market, exporting is the route that many firms are going to have go to. With a quality product, competitive pricing and a knowledge of foreign markets, the chances are good that your experience in exporting will be a positive one. It probably will not be an overnight success but the number of small Canadian firms that have found this success in exporting should be incentive enough for you to take a long, hard look. TheShort of it By Bonnie Gropp A bird's eye view of Toronto Sitting down to write this column every week, I have tried to avoid topics that read like a personal journal. But part of my past weekend involved a trip to Toronto and as anyone who knows me knows, my experiences in TO are usually worthy of some mention. The occasion was a wedding on my husband's side of the family. As it was a considerable distance and everyone wanted to be able to not worry about driving, it was agreed that a bus trip there might be a good idea. However, when you dislike close spaces, suffer from motion sickness and tend to get ill when you're overtired, as I do, the idea was not so good. The route involved several pick-up stops extending the travel time considerably and my relief at arriving was overshadowed by my knowledge that the return trip would be even longer. The wedding was set for early afternoon and we hit downtown metro with little time to spare thanks to normally organized, prompt Yours Truly, who got the departure time wrong and arrived at the bus stop, heaven forbid, late. Not to worry, though, there were plenty of seats. The church was an imposing Roman Catholic edifice with pews for some 700. The service was long, but over with plenty of time to spare before the reception, which was to begin at 6. As neither bride nor groom had any family in the area nor lived there themselves there was no where to go. Deciding we were hungry, having had nothing since breakfast a group of us started walking to find someplace to get a light bite. What we presumed would take only a few minutes to discover actually took almost half an hour as we travelled around downtown. Finally, we spied a bistro that looked fairly inviting and I hastened my step. I was the first to arrive, and a quick glance showed that some in our group would be less than comfortable eating there. When the two guys sitting out front whistled at the men with us that was confirmed and we continued past... ...to Yonge St. Anyone who has made a trip to Yonge St., knows that most of its inhabitants are - interesting. Yet, looking at myself and my companions I couldn't help giggling. We were as conspicuous as an undertaker at a Grateful Dead concert. A group of conservatively, though nattily dressed individuals, didn't faze the regulars on the street, however, who seemed oblivious to our little entourage. Eventually, our hunger satisfied we worked our way back to the reception at Sutton Place - on the 33rd floor. Not a person who feels dreadfully at peace in an elevator. I did fare better than my sister-in- law who suffers from a fear of heights. Imagine her delight when we stepped off the elevator, only to discover the entire room was floor to ceiling window on all sides. What a view! Or at least we figured it was when the smog wasn't there. Our table was right next to a window and, it really was an impressive sight. But after looking down on the hurly-burly for five hours it re-affirmed my belief that I would perish if I had to live there. I noticed there is a strange sense of isolation when you're on top of the world; like the world could end below you and you'd never know. Situated so high above everything it felt like it's probably easier to separate yourself from all the outside angst. Which, I figured, is probably why there are so many skyscrapers in big cities and everybody wants the top floor.