manual basis we bring in over four
million tons of iron ore for the past
year most of the concern has been about
oil but this Hamilton steel manufacturer
says the economic slump has hit them
just as hard it's been a tremendous blow
to the industry at large both the steel
industry and the mining industry so the
price of steel is dropped over 40
percent in the course of one year much
like oil there is a global glut and
steel driving prices to lows they
haven't seen since 2003
the Canadian economy as a whole is
heavily dependent on resources much more
than the US so when those prices slump
the economy goes with it the US Fed rate
hike is expected to push the already low
dollar even lower today the Prime
Minister acknowledged that can be a
double-edged sword there will be
opportunities for our exporters to to
benefit from it but obviously we are
always looking at the challenge is that
a lower dollar will pose to Canadian
producers and to you know the Canadian
economy in general that isn't the only
challenge
just yesterday Bank of Canada governor
Stephen poloz said the economic recovery
in the US isn't being mirrored here
usually you think of the Canada for the
UK economy following the US economy
fairly closely this will be one of those
places where it it really doesn't while
this has been a rough year before the
oil crash Canada's economy had been
performing well
another double-edged sword consumers
were spending but piling on record debt
buying expensive houses all driving the
economy as we recovered in 2010-2011 the
u.s. is finally seeing a recovery from
the 2008-2009 recession it's been a very
very slow wait to see the US consumer
really finally kick kick back in with
some strength so for now this remains a
tale of two different economies one the
u.s. confident and growing the other
here lagging behind and hoping to catch
up after suffering recent setbacks Peter
well Rene what should Canadians be
watching for in light of today's u.s.
rate hike
well first the Canadian dollar already
low it will likely fall even more as
investors flock to the US dollar over
the loonie and next interest rates the
Bank of Canada is in no mood to raise
rates here so it's short-term rates
likely won't move but longer-term rates
like some mortgages could go up because
they are tied to the rising rates of the
bond market now the biggest impact
though could be on our GDP and that
one's simple if the US economy keeps
growing that economy will hopefully
bring ours up with it Peter all right
Rene thank you