"Dollar Punishes Exporters"

No, not the U.S. dollar, which is stimulating our exports to record levels. This story is about the Canadian dollar, which has appreciated by about 50% since 2001 vs. the U.S. dollar, and has started to choke off Canadian exports.

Current account surplus plunges to a 4-year low as the mighty loonie crimps Canada's performance

TORONTO -- Canadians were given fresh evidence yesterday the soaring loonie is wreaking havoc on this country's trade performance after Statistics Canada reported our current account surplus with the rest of the world plunged by $5.3 billion in the third quarter to $1 billion.

The current account is the broadest measure of Canada's trade performance and includes trade, services and investments. This latest July-September snapshot shows the higher dollar, averaging about 95.7 cents (U.S.) during the period, pummelled exports and shoved this country's current account surplus down to its lowest level in four years.

Since the currency only reached parity with its U.S. counterpart during the tail end of the period, some economists are warning what's left of that surplus could disappear entirely during the current quarter.