Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses for appearing.
When I first arrived here in 2004, a lot of free trade agricultural associations told us that we needed to diversify trade away from the United States because we were overly reliant on that single trading partner. Subsequently, governments negotiated the comprehensive economic trade agreement with the European Union and the CPTPP in the Indo-Pacific region.
When we look at global GDP, we have a free trade agreement with the United States, which is about one-quarter of global GDP; we have one with Europe, which is just under 20%; and now we have one with the Indo-Pacific region, which is, roughly, another 15% or so. When we add it all up, we have free trade agreements now with over 50% of the global economy, yet it doesn't seem like we're taking advantage of those newly negotiated and implemented agreements.
I pulled up some trade data. In 2022, the most recent year for which I have data, Canada's primary and secondary agricultural production amounted to $94 billion Canadian, with some of that going to the Indo-Pacific region. The Netherlands exported $167 billion Canadian on current exchange rates. That's almost double what we exported, so why are grains and oilseeds associations not...? What's the solution to this? The Dutch export more fats and oils than we do, and as you know, they're on a postage stamp of a country. How come they export way more fats and oils than we do?