Thank you very much.
My name is John White, President and CEO of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association. You've already met my colleague Oumar, who is our Chief Economist.
I would like to say, on behalf of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, or CADA, that I am very pleased to appear before this distinguished committee today.
CADA represents over 3,200 active small and medium-sized businesses. Our members employ close to 160,000 Canadians around the country. Our members contribute over $115 billion a year to the Canadian economy.
I would first like to congratulate the government on the recent agreement reached by Canada, Mexico and the United States for the removal of the punitive section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs and the subsequent countermeasures that were applied. These tariffs have disrupted the integrated North American supply chain and they've added unnecessary costs for businesses and consumers. The automobile industry has been particularly affected, with steel and aluminum being major inputs into vehicle production.
A number of auto manufacturers have already been on record stating that these tariffs have increased their costs, and for the most part, they've absorbed them. However, some have stated publicly that they have been forced to pass on cost increases and price increases to consumers and to dealers. Needless to say, last month’s agreement to lift these tariffs by the three countries is good for our highly integrated economies, consumers and dealers.
We appreciate the work of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s Office, Minister Freeland and Minister Bains in ensuring that Canada’s auto sector would be protected and supported throughout the entire renegotiation process. I'd like to also thank them for initiating the steps to ratify CUSMA days after the steel and aluminum tariffs agreement was reached.
We also want to highlight the all-in Team Canada approach. We saw premiers, opposition MPs, former party leaders and prime ministers, along with members of the Canadian industry, reaching out to their American counterparts to reinforce the special trading relationship that we enjoy between Canada and the U.S. None of Canada’s success over the last year would have been possible without everyone's collective efforts.
Today, we are here to offer our comments in support of Bill C-101. This legislation will provide the government with the necessary flexibility to quickly react in response to abnormal trade patterns. In the case of steel and aluminum, the government will be able to take steps to protect the industry against foreign dumping. Steel and aluminum surges in Canada and the U.S. could trigger a new set of devastating tariffs, adding additional burden on the auto industry and North American supply chain, which could, in effect, threaten the ratification of CUSMA, and potentially have negative consequences and fallout once it is ratified.
Our franchised dealers want to ensure Canada is shielded from these surges and that additional disruption in the auto sector is avoided.
With an international trade space that is evolving fast and the kind of unprecedented, or should I say, unpredictable leadership coming from the U.S. administration, Canadian trade legislation should be flexible enough to provide lawmakers with the tools to rapidly take safeguard measures to support Canadian industries and workers.
Ultimately, our goal is to have the agreement ratified as soon as possible and to remove any obstacles that could slow its ratification.
I'd also like to add that our focus is to ensure the smooth and continued integration of the North American auto sector and that includes strong steel and aluminum sectors in Canada. Any measures that threaten to undermine this stability and integration will be bad for workers and the economy on both sides of the border. While we support Bill C-101, we caution that Canada take a hard look at any unintended consequences that this may have beyond the issue at hand.
Members of the committee, I'd like to thank you again for the opportunity to provide the perspective of the franchised new car dealers across the country on this important issue.
Thank you.