International Trade committee  Thank you. We surveyed our members. If I can put it in a slightly different context, our concern after the 2001 repealing of the Auto Pact was that Canada entered, I think, into negotiations with South Korea in 2006. South Korea is a major auto producer and exporter, and giving

International Trade committee  Not in the studies, per se. In fact the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade did a study with the onset of the Korea agreement that looked at the impact of free trade agreements with Korea, the EU, and Japan, and a sort of unilateral elimination. You might want t

International Trade committee  Absolutely. There are no tariffs into the Japanese automobile market, either on the vehicle side or the parts side. We have seen some Canadian investment in Japan to connect with Japanese, either major suppliers or OEMs, not just for business in Japan, but for business in other

International Trade committee  I certainly will try. I'm not an expert on the Japanese market, but Japan, as you may know, is a small car market. About 88% of the vehicles have engines that are under 2 litres. In that particular segment, according to the JAMA Tokyo document I have here, two U.S. automakers hav

International Trade committee  In the vehicle plants there are about 11,000, and there are about 15,000 in over 50 auto-related operations in Canada. Therefore, there are about 26,000 on the manufacturing side.

International Trade committee  As I mentioned earlier, the 6.1% tariff in terms of the costs that the Japanese automakers are facing is not that significant in terms of their production. It's more on the market side that we're looking at the impact of the 6.1% tariff. In a sense, there are two industries in C

International Trade committee  As I mentioned, I think we will have the ability to bring in vehicles that would attract a 6.1% tariff, particularly higher-cost advanced technology vehicles, which are typically sourced at this point in Japan. The usual process, I think, is to establish a market for the vehicles

International Trade committee  No, I don't see that.

International Trade committee  The removal of the 6.1% tariff for us is related to the fact that one-third of the vehicles that we sell in Canada—and two out of three are built locally as I mentioned in my presentation—still come from Japan, and a number of our member companies are still reliant on Japan for t

International Trade committee  Well, let me say first of all that I think it's often related to the effort that's put into it. I know that American companies have obviously been disappointed by their performance in Japan, but the fact of the matter is that they seem to have been diminishing their operations in

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you in support of this important initiative to broaden and deepen our bilateral relationship. As mentioned, I'm the executive director of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  We have specific concerns about the impact that the preferential tariffs on Korean vehicles might have on our members, both those who are importing from Japan and those who are investing in manufacturing in Canada, for small vehicles in particular, which are very popular with Can

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  The hourly rate might be very similar. Where they differ is probably on the benefits side of the package.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  I don't have a lot of detailed pricing information. There was a concern in 2007, when the Canadian dollar was above par, that Canadian pricing was not reflecting the full value of that dollar, and of course pricing is generally to the market. To compare exactly a vehicle in Canad

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  I think the hourly rate at a big three plant in Canada would be comparable to the hourly rate at one of our member's plants in Canada, yes.