Canada exports and imports large volumes of goods in most industries.
The data show the value of goods exported and imported by industry in
2017 (trade in services is not shown). The industries are ranked by the
total volume of trade—exports plus imports. The total value of goods
exported was $550 billion; the total value of goods imported was $574
billion.
(Source: These data are available on Statistics Canada’s website: http://www.statcan.gc.ca.))
In this chapter, we examine the increases in average living standards that
result from international trade. We find that the source of the gains from
trade lies in differing cost conditions among geographical regions. World
income would be vastly lower if countries did not specialize in the
products in which they have the lowest opportunity costs of production,
and then trade these products to other countries in exchange for the
products in which they specialize. The relevant opportunity costs are