Traditionally, when we started 80 years ago, we were the Canadian importers association. In 2000 we changed our name to add the word “exporters”, and that was more than just a marketing ploy. We realize that compared with 1932 when we were founded and when importing was a discrete activity and exporting was a discrete activity, the lines had really blurred by the year 2000.
It's very difficult in today's global economy to source all of your components, if you are a manufacturer, for example, domestically within Canada. Even if you can purchase or acquire a component in Canada, maybe from a cost perspective it's not competitive.
I'm not talking about the extraction services, mining and that sort of thing where something is coming out of Canadian soil. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about manufacturing and processing facilities.
At some point or another, every manufacturer or processor in Canada is going to have to bring something in, whether it be from the United States or China or wherever. I don't mean to sound flippant, but the price, for example, of a Canadian manufactured fastener, such as a screw or a bolt, might be cost prohibitive when compared with its Chinese competitor. That's just the reality. It's true not just for Canadian manufacturers but for every manufacturer around the world. It's the reality that we're in.