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Goderich Signal Star, 2017-01-25, Page 66 Signal Star • Wednesday, January 25, 2017 opiNi 4 Goderich Signal -Star VOL. 26 – ISSUE 10 PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST.1860 Signal Star Publishing 120 Huckins St. Goderich ON N7A 3X8 519-524-2614 www.goderichsignalstar.com POSTMEDIA JOHN BAUMAN Group Manager, Media Sales jbauman@postmedia.com ext. 232 JANET SHRIER Office Manager jashrier@postmedia.com ext. 220 DARRYL COOTE Editor dcoote@postmedia.com ext. 211 SUSAN MCINTOSH Sales gss.ads@sunmedia.ca ext. 228 TARA CORRAN Sales goderich.ads@sunmedia.ca STACEY SCOTT Inside Sales. focus.ads@sunmedia.ca ext. 229 RHONDA BUTT Accounting rhbutt@postmedia.com MARY JOHNSTON Accounts Receivable majohnston@postmedia.com CURTIS ARMSTRONG Group Director of Media Sales 519 376-2250 ext. 514301 or 510 364-2001 ext. 531024 Editorial Deadline - Friday 2 p.m. Advertising booking deadline - Friday 1:30 p.m. SUBSCRIPTION RATES ADVANCE: Regular $50.00 includes GST (12 months) Seniors $50.00 includes GST (14 months) US $249.00 plus GST Foreign $416.40 plus GST - Single Copy $1.50 includes GST Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDE.UVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 120 Huckins SL, Goderich ON N7A 3X8 For any non -deliveries or delivery concems: 519-524-2614 Goderich Signal Star is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns. For more information or to fife a complaint go to www.mediacouncil.ca or call toll free 1-844-877-1163. The Goderich Signal Star shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad for typographical errors in publication except to the extent of the cost of that portion of the ad in which the error occurred. The Goderich Signal -Star reserves the right to reject or edit any advertisement. The Goderich Signal -Star is a proud member of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) and The Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA). Member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspaper Association. �t We acknowledge the financial support of the Govemment of Canada. ocna Canada Canada's strongest card in the era of Trump: We buy American is no big shocker, in a country leaning heavily Democrat, that reaction to President Donald ,f'rump's truculent inaugural speech in the first 48 hours has run the gamut from fear, to loathing, to hor- ror. But a pause for breath is in order. There's room for qualified reassur- ance, from a Canadian standpoint, in the blunt clarity of the new administration's plans. The inaugural address last Friday was a near -verbatim reiteration of Trump's major campaign theme, in terms calculated to appeal to the roughly 63 million Americans who voted for him. This was the big line: "Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families." Hand -wringing and hair -tearing aside, that nowbecomes the standard by which everyTrump administration decision will be measured and antici- pated, at home and abroad, for the next four years. It means, for starters, that Canadian individuals and busi- nesses can begin to plot a way through the previously impenetrable murk That leaves us better oft in this narrow sense, than we were Thursday. Judging from the speech, and a series of brief policy statements that appeared on the White House website immediately after Trump was swom in, there is profound geopolitical uncertainty ahead. There's also room for cautious reassurance. This country has cards to play — considerably bet- ter etter ones, it must be said, than Mexico or China. Here's what did not appear in the inaugural, or in any of Trump's Column Michael Den Tandt remarks since: Any repetition (Allis prior musings about banning Muslims from entering the United States, or forcing Muslim Americans to register in a database, or curtailing immigra- tion from specific countries, or build- ing a Great Wall on the U.S.-Mexican border The wall, front and centre through- out Trump's run for the Republican nomination and the Presidency last year, has been relegated to the sixth paragraph of a White House website • policy summary on law and order That's a far cry from a declaration that construction will begin by such -and - such date. It is a concession, perhaps, to the manifest impracticality, gro- tesque expense and sheer impossibil- ity of forcing Mexico to pay for a wall, either now or later Here's what is on the table in the weeks and months ahead, unequivo- cally Combatively protectionist eco- nomic policy, which represents the most dramatic and far-reaching shift in the global order since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and perhaps since the Second World War "We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs," read one line of the inaugural speech, which was reportedly co - written by Trump's chief strategist, Stephen Bannon. "Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength" Setting aside that this statement is wrong and has been demonstrated to be wrong time and time again, most recently by the North Ameri- can Free Trade Agreement, under which three-way trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States has tripled in the past 25 years, here's what it likely means. The Trump administration, as the speech hammered home yet again, is monomaniacally focused on bringing manufacturing back to the continental United States. America's three largest manufactured -goods trading partners are China, Canada and Mexico, in that order. Mexico, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representa- tive, had two-way goods trade with the United States worth US$531-billion in 2015. The U.S. deficit in that exchange was $58 -billion, meaning Americans bought $58 billion more in goods from Mexicans, than they sold to them. It's a significant imbalance with a partner just next door and helps explain — alongwith illegal immigra- tion — Trump's rhetoric targeting Mexico and Mexican imports. China had two-way goods trade with the United States of $659.4 -bil- lion in 2015. American exports to China amounted to just $116 -billion, whereas U.S. goods imports from China were worth $482 -billion. The U.S. deficit in that exchange was a whopping $366 -billion. It's a huge imbalance. It helps explain, again in the Postmedia gets award from Google for growth of its advertising business Canada's largest newspaper publisher and the owner of the National Post has been recognized by tech giant Google Inc. for growing its advertising base over 400 per cent. Postmedia Network Canada Corp. was named the recipient of the 2016 North America GoogleChannelAward in the Strategic Account Growth Champion cat- egory. The prize is awarded to a single partner of Google's in North America for growing their revenue using online adver- tising service AdWords. Postmedia increased its total client accounts by 454 per cent year -over -year from 2015 to 2016. "We are honoured to receive this pres- tigious award from Google," said.Paula Festas,-Postmedia's chief revenue officer: "Postmedia is committed to offering full service advertising solutions and driving value through its customized advertising solutions and multi -platform campaigrfs for small and medium-sized businesses and our account growth numbers are a true testament to our exceptional cus- tomer service and performance." In its partnership with Google, Postme- dia sells small and medium-sized busi- nesses digital marketing services, which include search engine marketing and e-commerce web design. With print advertising and sales reve- nues in sustained decline across Canada, the company has pursued several new digital initiatives in addition to its business with Google, including marketing partner- shipswith fintech companiesAgilityForex Ltd. and Mogo Finance Technology Inc. and a digital lab at Kitchener,ON-based startup incubator Communitech. Winners in other categories of the North America Google Channel Awards this year include U.S. broadcaster and publisher The E.W. Scripps Company, as well as digital marketing start-ups in Bos- ton-based WordStream Inc. and Califor- nia-based ReachLocal Inc. context of the inauguration speech, why Trump has for weeks sounded markedly less friendly to China than have previous presidents, and markedly friendlier to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rene- gade province. He's laying the table for a trans -Pacific trade war. And Canada? This country had two- way goods trade with the United States worth $575 -billion in 2015, but in almost even measure — a deficit for America of just $15 billion. American 'goods' bought from Canada are led by mineral fuels, oil and natural gas, to the tune of $70 billion in 2015. The top three categories of American goods bought by Canadians, meantime, were vehicles ($48 billion), machinery ($43 billion) and electrical equipment ($25 billion.) The United States has no larger manufactured goods export market than Canada That is why, as the mes- sage now burning up the lines between Ottawa and'Washington D.C. reminds us, an estimated nine million jobs in 35 states depend on exports to Canada Put most simply, Canada buys American. Whatever trade action the Trump administration may take in an attempt to balance U.S. trade with Mexico or China, it cannot seriously jeopardize American exports to Can- ada, without causing widespread manufacturing job losses on its home soil — and in the very rust belt states that gave Trump the victory in November. Canada will be buffeted by the sec- ondary effects of U.S. protectionism and the geopolitical turmoil that ensues. We are too good and reliable a client to become a target ourselves. 1 CAROL HAS A HOT GATE TONIGHT