Exports to Canada Continue to Grow

COSTA Rican exports to Canada grew 23.9% last year, continuing the trend of a growing trade surplus with the North American country.

Costa Rica exported $194.1 million to Canada and opened its borders to $44 million in Canadian imports, according to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER).

The steady increase in trade is in part attributed to the free-trade agreement the two countries signed on April 23, 2001. The agreement allows 86% of Costa Rican products to enter Canada free of tariffs.

Costa Rica’s main agricultural exports to Canada in 2003 were bananas, pineapples, sugarcane, melons, green coffee beans, heart of palm and flowers (in that order).

Top industrial exports were computer integrated circuits, needles, syringes and other medical equipment (in that order).

Canada’s main exports to Costa Rica were press paper, potassium chloride, kraft paper for sacks and nylon-textured threads.