EDA Office of Foreign Trade • Riverside County, California • USA
October 2012
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iverside County’s trade relationship
with Canada, already one of the county’s
strongest, took another step forward
recently when Vancouver Mayor Gregor
Robertson led a delegation of Canadian
dignitaries to the area and signed a
trade agreement pledging to work
closely with the county in the future.
Riverside County Supervisor Marion
Ashley presented Mayor Robertson
and the delegation with a Fender
guitar that was custom made in Corona
especially for the event. The guitar
includes a unique feature found only
in this instrument – a red maple leaf
that lights up, displaying the Canadian
symbol known around the world.
“
Let’s see L.A. top this,” Ashley laughed,
referring to the next stop on the
Vancouver group’s itinerary that
day. Ashley noted that the guitar is
made of maple and alder. The alder
comes from the British Columbia
area that is home to Vancouver.
“
Where’s the amp? Mayors like amplifiers,”
Mayor Robertson joked before returning
the favor by giving the Riverside
County delegation a hand-carved
wooden box that is known to represent
strength and respect among the Native
American people of the Northwest.
“
The tribes on our coast were
building these boxes a thousand
years ago,”Mayor Robertson said.
“
You can’t rock out on it, though.”
Canada already is the county’s top
trading partner, buying 41 percent of
all products exported from Riverside
County, and Riverside County is home
to 130 Canadian-owned businesses.
“
There is already a lot of activity
between Riverside County and
Canada,”Mayor Robertson said. “It’s
great to know that you are keen
to take that to the next level.”
Chief Administrative Officer Jay Orr
noted that much of the vehicle traffic
into California from the rest of the U.S.
passes through Riverside County.
Orr also pointed out that UC Riverside
is on schedule to open the first public
medical school in California in 40
years, which dovetails nicely with
efforts underway locally to combat the
prevalence of obesity and diabetes.
Orr noted that about 40 percent of the
goods that enter the U.S. through the
Port of Los Angeles reach the rest of the
country via roads and railroad tracks
that pass through Riverside County.
“
We’re becoming an inland port for the
Port of LA,”Orr said. “We’re also very
strong in agriculture. In addition to
ag, we can also ship you construction
workers. We have a lot of workers
locally who are very interested in
working in Canada temporarily.”
Riverside County also has experienced
tremendous growth in foreign trade,
moving from 47
th
in the U.S. to 24th
in just three years, said Foreign Trade
Commissioner Tom Freeman. Many
of the county’s 1,900 manufacturers
have begun exporting during
that time, and the county now
exports to 180 nations, he said.
“
You can see you are a major partner
for us,” Freeman said. “Instead of
the Six Million Dollar Man, you
are the $5 billion partner.”
Representatives from the Vancouver
delegation noted that they have much
in common with Riverside County on
several fronts, including renewable
energy, such as the large hydroelectric
facilities in Vancouver and the wind and
geothermal assets in Riverside County.
Both areas have huge agricultural
assets, including blueberries and
raspberries in Canada, and a wealth
of food crops in Riverside County.
“
Your produce keeps us alive,
literally,”Mayor Robertson said.
“
And energy is a big piece for us, so
it is amazing to see what is being
done here with wind and solar.”
The two regions each benefit from
Vancouver, Canada Sees the
Importance of their Recently
Signed Economic Trade
Agreement with Riverside County
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson
