Industry and Technology Committee on April 20th, 2026

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you for that answer.

I did hear what you said very loudly and clearly about your labour force. There is that uncertainty. The uncertainty is on everybody's minds, right from the top of government straight down to the person who is working on the shop floor. The skilled trades are so wildly important to that industry and it does not go unnoticed.

Mr. Jebely, I would like to go to you, sir.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Mr. Lewis, unfortunately, we are past time. I apologize.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Am I done? Oh, my goodness.

Perhaps in your next one, you could talk about how it's not only auto. It's everything else.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you.

Mr. Bains, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Again, thank you to the witnesses for joining us and sharing the troubles that are happening right now in the moulding industry. We've heard from the second panel that there's a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability in planning, and that there are challenges around that.

I want to first go to Mr. Jebely.

Could you talk about how far in advance you have to place orders for your inputs when you're doing a project and getting an order, and how the tariffs have affected the predictability of your input costs?

Ultimately, I want to get to recommendations. We heard a bit from previous witnesses, who shared some recommendations they have for government. Maybe build on some of the things you can share.

[Cyrus Jebely]

I gave you the example of two moulds within six months. One had $35,000 U.S. in tariffs, and the second had $135,000. I have no idea what the third one will be. How am I supposed to plan my business going forward? If a customer has to pay this, obviously, it's a completely different set of negotiations. That certainty is crucial in our business. We can't provide a quote for a project without knowing what additional costs will be there by the time it's finished.

There is one thing I want to let everybody here know: This is not isolated to automotive. We're talking about the entire manufacturing industry in Canada. My company specializes in moulds that make those caps for food packaging—products that everybody uses and takes how they're made for granted. That's how it should be, because we work on efficiency. Our customers love our products. The moulds we make produce plastic products used in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It's all interconnected. It's been like that for the last decades.

These tariffs, this lack of negotiation and this lack of clarity are detrimental to businesses.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

In July, the U.S. and South Korea reached a trade deal. It was aimed at avoiding high tariffs before an August 1 deadline. South Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in the U.S. and open its markets. Despite that, we saw Donald Trump announce another 15% tariff on many South Korean imports. Again, the predictability they may have negotiated ultimately did not materialize. We understand this is the type of challenge we're facing as a nation.

Again, I want to get some potential recommendations—some low-hanging fruit regarding things we can do.

I will switch to Mr.—

[Cyrus Jebely]

I could give you one. I'm sorry to interrupt.

I was in Washington last week. One thing I learned there—U.S. customers and U.S. counterparts in Washington told us this—is that, when it comes to aerospace and defence, the U.S. looks at Canada as a vital partner. We have to leverage that. I have it written here that if one sector—whether it's automotive or mould-making—in the manufacturing ecosystem goes down, it will impact the entire manufacturing sector. It will impact the capabilities of companies specializing in aerospace or defence. We have ways to negotiate, but we have to show up at the table. We have to tell the U.S., “You are our biggest customer. We're not going anywhere. We're here to make a deal.”

That is my recommendation on behalf of my company and the Canadian Association of Moldmakers. Our government needs to go there and not leave until we have a deal, whatever that deal may be. We need certainty. Dragging this along for months and years, just talking, is not going to save the manufacturing industry. That's the sad reality.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

I'm going to switch to—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Be quick, Mr. Bains. There are about 10 seconds. I'll let you sneak a question in.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

If we're looking at diversifying into other markets, are you optimistic that there's an opportunity to do that now?

[Chris Vander Park]

Do you mean to sell to other markets?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Yes...to non-U.S. markets.

[Chris Vander Park]

For us to sell outside of the U.S., to sell a tool to China, it's impossible. To sell a tool to India, it's impossible. For us to sell the tool to Europe, it is highly unlikely. Our world is U.S.-integrated. This is what CUSMA has done. This is what we built our business on. To put a 10% flat tariff on it, no matter what, no matter if I can do 100% U.S. steel, totally circumvents our trade deal now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bains.

Mr. Ste‑Marie, you may go ahead for two and a half minutes.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I encourage the witnesses to reach out to their U.S. customers and remind them that a group of American small businesses launched the legal challenge to have the sweeping tariffs overturned, a legal challenge that went all the way to the Supreme Court. We've also seen the government back down on fertilizers in the face of pressure from U.S. farmers. Unfortunately, those things take a long time, but perhaps negotiating with a U.S. president who doesn't even comply with CUSMA isn't our only option.

Ms. Blanchet, this fall's mid-term elections will probably change things, but that's a long way off, months down the road. The issue of skilled workers is an important consideration. How do we hold on to them as we navigate the storm, if the worst-case scenario comes true and this goes on until the mid-term elections, months in the future? Would a targeted one-time wage subsidy help? I know that's not what you're looking for, but would it make a difference until things stabilize with our neighbour to the south?

[Catherine Blanchet]

That's a good point. We absolutely have to find a way to keep our workers. Many of my employees are foreign workers. We have to find a way to hold on to them, because tool and die skills take years to build. Mould-making contracts cover two or three months, as was mentioned. We have another two or three months ahead of us, but after that, we're going to have to find a way to keep those jobs here.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

All right. Thank you.

I'd appreciate it if you could answer this next question in 30 seconds. If the government rolled out big projects or its defence industrial strategy quickly, in the short term, do you think it could award contracts to your industry, helping you get through these tough times?

[Catherine Blanchet]

Yes. I already work in the defence sector. I can take, and want to take, more such work. If the government undertook projects quickly, we could get back on track right away and take those contracts.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Thank you very much. My time is up.

Thank you to all the witnesses. Feel free to follow up with the committee in writing, to keep us informed and share any other ideas or situations you'd like.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you, Mr. Ste‑Marie.

Mr. Lewis or Ms. Borrelli, the floor is yours. I'm not sure if you are going to split some time. You have five minutes between the two of you.

The floor is yours.

[Kathy Borrelli, Conservative, Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Vander Park, what can the government do to support your business? What would you ask for? Would you ask for clarity? Would you ask for some successful trade negotiations? Would you ask for financial support for these extra tariffs you're required to pay?

[Chris Vander Park]

I can't give you the perfect answer. I can tell you that, immediately, I need stability. I mentioned a little while ago that I don't know what's coming. I don't know how to sell. We have work in progress now. We don't have an answer for our sales team. We don't have an answer for our customers who are asking why they would give us a project that we quoted at, let's say, $1 million, if in six months, when we ship it, we can't say what it's going to cost them. They can't put their capex or their structures in place. I need stability. I need to get rid of the uncertainty.

Again, to put it perfectly—and I can't speak politics, because I don't want to talk about the United States or anybody else—we do have a CUSMA deal. We have a policy. We have something in place. We just need to be able to somehow honour that properly. Without that, it will be very tough for Canadian manufacturing as a whole.

[Kathy Borrelli, Conservative, Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, ON]

I've heard conversations regarding companies that are already looking into establishing operations in the United States. Have you heard news like this amongst your peers?

[Chris Vander Park]

For sure. We absolutely are doing the same thing. We have to. It's inevitable that we have to look at that. I heard Jonathon saying the same thing earlier. They're looking at other places.

I have an owner who's invested and committed millions of dollars and he says every day, “Chris, with a swipe of the pen, my world has changed.” It's one proclamation.