Trading places

"You know, one statistic I think people need to know is there's roughly, like, $380 billion worth of goods that we ship to our NAFTA partners on an annual basis." That was George W. Bush on Feb. 28, after both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton suggested they'd renegotiate NAFTA if elected. At last, Bush was making sense. The NAFTA-bashing was a clear case of pandering to states like Ohio that blame Canada for massive layoffs. But the truth is, trade with this country supports 7.1 million jobs in the U.S., and 36 states count Canada as their top export market. Even tiny Rhode Island shipped us $470 million (U.S.) worth of stuff in 2006, a figure responsible for 26,000 jobs. Its biggest exports: watches, clocks, jewellery and silverware.

TOP 10 STATES WHOSE LARGEST EXPORT MARKET IS CANADA (TOTAL EXPORTS IN U.S. DOLLARS AND LARGEST EXPORT CATEGORY)

Tennessee

$5.5 billion

Automobiles

Kentucky

$5.4 billion

Trucks

Illinois

$12.1 billion

Automobiles

Wisconsin

$5.4 billion

Auto engines

Indiana

$9.5 billion

Auto parts

Michigan

$22.8 billion

Auto parts

Ohio

$18 billion

Auto parts

North Carolina

$4.4 billion

Auto parts

Pennsylvania

$7.9 billion

Steel

New York

$12.7 billion

Auto engines

More stuff we buy from the U.S.

Nevada

Recreational equipment $131 million

Colorado

Meat $140 millionNebraska

Combine reaper-threshers $82 million

North Dakota

Power shovels $74 million

Florida

Orange juice & concentrates $159 million

45%: Portion of Canadians who think Ottawa should do "whatever is necessary" to reopen the NAFTA agreement

80%: Share of Democratic primary voters in Ohio who feel international trade agreements take more jobs away than they create, according to exit polls on March 4