Most Tier 4 nations tend to be somewhat stagnant. It is as much a lack of drive as a lack of resources. The French Peace contributed a great deal to this. Off-world contact, trade, and emigration was typically through French channels, and most smaller nations were content with this. A few weren't, and aren't and have found their own way out. Like Indonesia. Like Iran seems to be doing. Some nations are Tier 3 solely through the charity of other nations, in particular Canton and the Inca Republic. The Inca Republic should be something more like a Tier 5 nation, if such a things existed. The government of the republic benefits enormously from foreign investment, not just in the Beanstalk project but in a number of other ventures, that, if performed by a individual or cotporation, would be called 'schemes'.
As for the argument about orbital yards and production capability, almost all Tier 3 nations have some capability to construct starship hulls. Most starships are purchased from foreign yards, but the capability to construct a ship is a measure, along with supporting off-world colonies, for inclusion as a Tier 3 nation. Texas, for instance, has a yard that can only construct cutters and other small craft, but it refits all foreign purchased vessels to meet the Texan's requirements. This refit is part of the contract under which Texas purchases these ships, as a means of retaining some independent military capacity.
As for Canada, I don't recall the 2290 production bit. SotFA seems to indicate otherwise. 2320AD: Canada has had a domestic ship-building capability since the 2240s, mostly commercial hulls. These initial designs used foreign-produced stutterwarps, and even to this day the highest-performance drives on Canadian military vessels are sourced from British yards. The Slaver War was both Canadian and Manchurian warships, with Canada using Canadian-made Tribal-class ships (now retired), which were licensed-built variants of the British Warrior-class.
For 2320AD, this is canon. For 2300AD, not so much.
