Gateways, Global Value Chains and Trade Corridors

Gateways, Global Value Chains and Trade Corridors by Senior Researcher Russ Kuykendall was published in Policy Options for the 20th Anniversary of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (October 2007). This article argues that Canada's international trade policy prioritizes the Gateways model with a view to increasing trade with Asia, especially China. Meanwhile Industry Canada is focussed on global value chains. While there are strengths and weaknesses to the global value chains model, Russ Kuykendall asks whether it provides an adequate explanation for trade. Instead, he proposes that the Trade Corridors model best explains Canada-U.S. trade—Canada's most important trading relationship—and that the model suggests where Canada should pursue development of trade.