The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Nov. 29, edition that Canadian manufacturers are losing sales in the crucial U.S. market. Most Canadian goods exports are still entering the U.S. duty-free, thanks to a carve-out tied to the North American trade deal. A triple bylined item led by Matt Lundy reports that the United States, however, has also targeted several industries -- including steel, aluminum, automobiles and lumber -- with punishing tariffs as high as 50 per cent, and that spells trouble for Canadian communities that rely on heavy industry and U.S. demand to power growth, notably those in Southern Ontario. If anything, this is just the latest tough chapter for Canadian manufacturing. At the turn of this century, the industry accounted for about 16 per cent of overall gross domestic product, that is now down to less than 9 per cent. Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter says: "What's especially notable in recent years is that factory output was drifting lower even before this year's trade trauma, which has just piled on the pain. That was not obviously the case in the U.S. economy, where manufacturing output has been rising and still accounts for just over 10 per cent of GDP."