The MARKET without MERCY

摘要

It should not come as a shock to anyone in the containerboard industry that the sector is currently mired in one of its most severe downturns in the past quarter-century. The Canadian demand for containerboard, for example, has seen only marginal growth in the past two years. Prior to our Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S., which came into effect January 1, 1989, the Canadian market for containerboard was essentially a closed market. With the FTA, and later with NAFTA, cross-border trade in packaging papers and boards exploded. The result is that since the FTA came into effect, Canadian demand for containerboard has grown by nearly 50 per cent―46 per cent to be exact―and imports from the U.S. have captured almost every tonne of that growth. Consequently, imports as a share of Canadian demand has risen from just three per cent in 1988 to 31 per cent in 2000, and to 33 per cent in 2001. (See tables on pages 45 and 46.)