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Steve Chiotakis: President Obama today makes the first foreign trip of his administration — to Canada. Unlike his high-profile trip to Europe during his candidacy, the trip north of the border
is a no-frills affair. Here’s Marketplace’s Dan Grech.

Dan Grech: No grand speeches, no rallies, not even dinner. President Obama will have just six hours to explain to his Canadian counterpart what his stimulus plan’s “Buy American” provision means. And his campaign promise to renegotiate the NAFTA free trade agreement.

Peter DeShazo is with the Center for Strategic and International Studies:

Peter DeShazo: The United States and Canada are linked in so many ways, and the future of the two countries really depends on cooperation and on working together.

DeShazo says Canada is by far America’s largest trading partner. Trade between the two countries is nearly 50 percent larger than that of the U.S. and China.

But there’s one area of business that Canada’s particularly worried about:

DeShazo: The Canadians will be following very carefully what the United States does to meet the challenges of the financial crisis.

Canada’s the world’s third-largest exporter if auto parts, and America is one of its biggest customers. So Canadians are anxious to see a rescue package for Detroit.

I’m Dan Grech for Marketplace.