New Jersey

Canada is a key customer for NJ chemicals, plastics and cosmetics

The chemical industry, with niches in plastics and cosmetics, is the largest manufacturing sector in the state, employing more than 44,000 people. New Jersey is home to several leading chemical makers, including BASF Corp. in Florham Park, NJ. Not surprisingly, exports of these products drive NJ-Canada trade.

In 2020, Canadians bought more than $400 million worth of synthetic resins, which are used in the making of plastics, paints and varnishes. Canada accounted for more that 40 percent of the state’s resin exports. In addition, Canadians are the leading foreign buyers of various cosmetics, fragrances and detergents produced in New Jersey.

Canada is also the primary supplier of energy imports for New Jersey, including crude oil and biodiesel, pus a range of key industrial inputs, such as copper cathodes, palladium, polyethylenes and lumber.

Canadian-owned companies employed 28,200 workers in the state in 2018. Among the major employers are Bausch Health in Bridgewater, NJ, specialty chemical maker Chemtrade (with three plants in the state), packaging maker Cascades Inc. in Piscataway and juice maker Lassonde (with four plants).

What supporters are saying

“Who would have thought that the USMCA was even possible and would be supported by both the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO? Good things happen when we work together.”

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ-4), February 27, 2020

“The USMCA will provide a critical and very significant boost to the economies in the United States, Mexico, and Canada — and it will remind us all that trade, with its natural ebbs and flows, is an inevitable and powerful force for good.”

Councilman Mike Inganamort (Chester Township), May 31, 2019

Spotlight on Canadian business

Training the next generation of business jet and helicopter pilots

Montreal-based CAE’s northeast training center in Morristown, NJ now has 15 flight simulator bays, capable of providing instruction to 3,500 pilots a year. The center offers courses for most major business jets, including Beechcraft, Bombardier, Dassault, Gulfstream and Hawker, as well as Sikorsky helicopters. CAE also offers onsite training of maintenance personnel and cabin crews.

New Jersey’s leading small business lender

TD Bank was the leading Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in its Maine-to-Florida market area for the fifth consecutive year in 2021. During the year, TD made SBA-backed loans to 1,400 businesses. In New Jersey, where TD has 125 branches, the bank is the top provider of 7(a) loans – the SBA’s most common loan program, typically used for buying real estate, working capital, refinancing debt and office fixtures. TD is among the 10 largest banks in the U.S., with nearly 10-million customers and more than 1,200 branches. In 2017, TD Bank launched its Project SEARCH High School Transition Program to provide internships for students with cognitive disabilities. As the only East Coast bank to participate in the program, TD’s Project SEARCH has graduated a total of 26 interns and 19 of the graduates are currently employed including three interns who found full-time employment with TD.

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