As president of I.E. Canada, the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters, I'd like to thank you on behalf of the members for the opportunity to appear before the committee to discuss Canada-U.S. trade and investment issues.
Joining me today is Carol Osmond, the senior policy adviser for the association.
I.E. Canada has been the leading voice of the trade community since 1932. It serves small, medium, and large enterprises across Canada. Membership comprises importers and exporters, as well as a range of service providers to Canada's trade community. We have a growing membership that now exceeds 800.
In a recent survey conducted by Export Development Canada, EDC, 85% of 1,500 Canadian business executives surveyed agreed that international trade is an important and a significant contributor to Canada's economy. However, no longer can simply expanding exports improve competitiveness. Imports are also an important engine of the Canadian economy. The import content used to make up Canadian exports has been growing steadily, with 61% of Canadian exporters indicating that their companies' exports of products or services include imported component materials. If Canadian companies are to be globally competitive, there is a need to be able to use both imports and exports.
Therefore, in developing a Canadian trade policy, it is important to take into consideration that Canadian competitiveness depends on global supply chains, as many inputs incorporated into those products from both domestic consumption and export to the United States and elsewhere are sourced globally.
Given the nature of our association and its membership, our trading relationship with the United States, especially with our shared border, is clearly a key area of concern. Our association is a supporter of the security and prosperity partnership of North America, in particular, for initiatives intended to facilitate the movement of low-risk goods and persons across the Canada-U.S. border.
Even before the tragic events of 9/11, Canadian business was becoming increasingly concerned about the delays associated with and the costs of crossing the Canada-U.S. border and the impact on Canadian competitiveness. At the time, our challenge was to convince the U.S. government that the border was a problem that deserved its attention. We could never have foreseen how suddenly and dramatically our shared border would become a priority for the United States. There are still those in the United States who believe 9/11 terrorists entered the United States through Canada.
The prosperity of Canadians and our ability to maintain and create jobs depend on our ability to trade and, in particular, our ability to trade with the United States. Whether we like it or not, the U.S. will set the terms for access to its market. Today access to the U.S. market increasingly means satisfying U.S. concerns about security. Through mechanisms like the SPP, the Canadian government has the means of influencing the measures adopted by the U.S. to ensure that the interests of Canadians and Canadian business are taken into consideration.
The cross-border relationships between businesses and associations, such as those being developed through the North American Competitiveness Council, as well as independently through our sister associations in the two countries, such as I.E. Canada's relationship with the American Association of Exporters and Importers, are also crucial to influencing U.S. decision-makers.
We have to be constantly vigilant. Laws passed in the United States have an impact on Canadians and have unanticipated ramifications. The western hemisphere travel initiative and the new APHIS, or Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, fees are two examples of initiatives that threaten to undermine the efforts to thin our border.
However, it's not only about maintaining access to the United States market, as pointed out earlier in the remarks by a representative of the Canadian Chamber before this committee last week. Canadians and Americans not only trade with one another but they also manufacture together. Since NAFTA, some 13 years ago, large sections of our economies have become highly integrated, and our industries are becoming truly North American. Thirty-four percent of the bilateral shipments of goods is comprised of inter-company trade, and over 70% is comprised of inter-industry trade. To compete against emerging economic titans like China and India, Canada, the United States, and Mexico have no other choice but to work together.
We recognize that members of this committee are concerned about transparency of the SPP process. There are over 300 action items under the SPP, and Canada works most closely with the Canada Border Services Agency, which is involved with 100 of these.
CBSA has had to establish priorities that fortunately largely coincide with those of our members. They include implementation of an advanced commercial information e-manifest, to which the government recently committed $369 million over the next five years; establishment of bilateral border contingency and business resumption plans in the event of a pandemic, natural disaster, or terrorist act, and whether this could impact either a partial or a complete shutdown of the border; and making Canadian Partners in Protection, PIP, compatible with the U.S. customs and border partnership against terrorism, which will hopefully result in mutual recognition of these two programs.
Members of our association have been involved and will continue to be actively involved in these consultations relating to these initiatives. We're a member of the CBSA steering committee on external stakeholder partnerships. That network was established by CBSA to develop consulting with the trade community. We've been involved in a variety of other projects with CBSA, including border contingency planning. Our members have participated in table-top exercises, and our association has been part of the PIP program to make it compatible with C-TPAT. We are participating in consultations with Transport Canada on air cargo security, and we believe that this will ensure success of these initiatives.
It's essential to consult members of the trade community so their concerns and business realities can be taken into consideration. We're very pleased with the excellent working relationship we have with CBSA.
We're also pleased with the level of consultation by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, which as you know serves as the Canadian secretariat for the NACC. As it was preparing its report on enhancing competitiveness in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, we were able to ensure that our members' concerns and priorities with respect to the border were incorporated into the report. We also contributed to the section on standards and regulatory cooperation, particularly in the areas of food and agriculture, and intellectual property rights.
Another key area of concern for our members includes border infrastructure. Our members are less concerned about border release times than the time it takes to reach the custom inspection booths due to inadequate infrastructure at the leading points of entry. It is critical that other government departments on both sides of the border participate in programs to make customs clearance fully electronic. It is also important that the government agencies and departments involved in security programs, like CBSA and Transport Canada, coordinate their efforts to avoid unnecessary duplication and cost of business.
On transportation policy, a hefty surge in imports and exports during the last few years has been good news for Canada, as it has created jobs and economic growth. However, it also revealed the shortcomings in the country's transportation infrastructure and policies that need to be dealt with if Canada is to continue to be a player in world trade.
It is appropriate that this committee take an interest in the SPP. We urge you to support the work that is being conducted by governments of the NAFTA countries under the SPP, and in particular, initiatives that will facilitate the movement of low-risk goods and people across our shared border with the United States.
Thank you again for the opportunity to appear today. We'll be very pleased to answer questions.