Our sugar industry, for instance has been facing major issues for some years. Our fish and timber industries have also not been performing to their potential. On the imports side, we experienced rising oil and food prices that stretched our import bill beyond limits and our balance of trade went into a tail spin.
Compared with other countries, this is only a little above the 0.4 per cent in Canada and well below the 2½–3 per cent in the UK and Spain and 8 per cent in the US.