International Trade committee  Sure. Maybe I'll start with an example. We have an American company that moved up here in the beginning of 2019. They made a proprietary fabric that was antimicrobial, anti-inflammable, so it doesn't burn very easily. They had developed these threads and they were doing it in the U.S.

International Trade committee  Certainly. I think the main thing is to look outside. We have great opportunities through our consulates around the world to make connections with entrepreneurs and people who see Canada as a positive place to land. That's not just to land their goods in to sell in the market but actually to make this a second home or to set up a factory.

International Trade committee  One of the challenges we have, being a border community, is that we rely heavily on interaction between Canada and the U.S. That has been our ideal place to export, because it's fast and it's easy. We can literally see the other country across the river in the Niagara region. In these past few years, there's been a lot of uncertainty for us being able to ship goods or get contracts in the U.S.

International Trade committee  Our client base is a little over 70 clients whom we work directly with here, who actually touch ground in Niagara itself. I would say roughly about 60% of those would go into the U.S. Into Mexico.... We don't have very many who go that far down the pathway, but we do have clients developing their pathways into Brazil and into Britain.

International Trade committee  It was, very much so. I was born and raised in Niagara, so I'm very lucky to have that option here. Within a ten-hour drive—basically a truck's drive away from Niagara—we have over 140 million people from the North American consumer market available to us. That's a significant portion.

International Trade committee  Very much so. Basically, business went into a holding pattern. We weren't sure what the climate was or how things were going to be moving forward. Is it going to be ripped up and not ratified? Are we going back to basically the default of the World Trade Organization, which has lost a lot of its teeth in its ability to actually enforce any of its rules and regulations?

International Trade committee  I'd be happy to. We have to look at the idea of the ratification of this NAFTA 2.0 as being greater than just our trade between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. I'm very proud of what this government and past governments have done to create free trade agreements across the world.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. I appreciate being asked to be part of this conversation. My name is Kevin Jacobi. I'm executive director for CanadaBW Logistics, located in Niagara Falls, Ontario. To put it in context, my company is an import-export development company. We help local businesses support expansion of their exporting needs, as well as international companies find a home here in Niagara, for them to be part of our community and develop their businesses within the Canadian infrastructure.