Implications of U. S. MNCs for Canada and its Economic Policies in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This study examines the U.S. Multinational Corporations implications and
Canadian economic policies during 20th century. It discusses how the U.S
MNCs put a heavy drain on the Canadian economy and what the
Canadian government took different steps to counter them. The
Canadian economy is heavily dominated by multinational corporations,
which are nearly concentrated in all the sectors of its economy. This ‘undue’
foreign control caused a lot of balance of payments problem and developed a
truncated industry in Canada. To overcome these problems the
government appointed different commissions which submitted their
recommendations to increase the national employment levels, diversity of
employment, technological advancement, competitive strength, export
volumes and reduce imports. In the light of these recommendations, the
government adopted different policies to achieve its national economic
goals. It gave taxation concessions to the local periodicals and
publications to make them competitive with the U.S MNCs. Trudeau
government announced National Energy Program (NWP) which put
ownership restriction on the foreign MNCs and put them at
disadvantageous position compared to Canadian MNCs. The Canadian
government also introduced FIRA (Foreign Investment Review Agency)
which was a screening body for the foreign investment and which
caused a lot of resentment among foreign investors