Each and every day, $1.6 billion in trade crosses the U.S.-Canada border, making it the largest and closest bilateral economic relationship in the world. Bilateral trade between the two countries accounts for approximately 18 percent of U.S. trade, more than trade with China and Japan combined. Moreover, at a time when the U.S. economy is slowing down, where there is continuing concern about the loss of jobs to foreign locations, and 24/7 coverage of a presidential election focuses increasingly on a wobbly economy, there is no general commotion among the U.S. public about the extent of bilateral trade between the two countries. Even the persistent softwood lumber dispute seems to be relatively quiescent. This article was originally published in the October 2008 edition of The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.