International Trade Committee on Feb. 15th, 2018

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

I'm very happy to have your question, because the day after we announced we would be signing, I was in Oakville, Burlington, and Hamilton having round tables with people.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

You didn't quite make it down to Windsor. I know that you couldn't make it.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

It was because of the time schedule.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

We of course would welcome you at any point. I know you couldn't make it.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

I'm more than happy. I have had a discussion with CVMA. Yesterday I was with probably 10 to 15 people from the auto sector on a conference call. We've been engaging with each other in understanding.

One of the things you will see in your report—

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

With all due respect, though, Minister, around the TPP, I don't believe that's the case. I believe that you spent time with them over the NAFTA round. Many of them said there was no inkling that this was coming and that they were blindsided by it.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, with respect, I would say that if you talk to the COOs of the various companies—I was with some just recently, and I was on the phone with many of them over the course of the discussions—you will find, I'm happy to say, that one of the things—and you will recall it in the letter from CVMA—was about market access. Yesterday we spent 51 minutes talking about market access in some of these markets. I understand the concerns. The auto sector is an important one. We want to invest in the auto sector. One of the things that they were asking us about was market access.

One of the things we've achieved today is the greatest market access to the Japanese market. What we've achieved is to remove the non-tariff trade barrier with respect to safety in Japan. This is more than we ever got in the history of the auto sector in Canada. We not only got that, but we got in the side letter, which is going to be made available as soon as possible—

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

We'll see that at one o'clock. I think we'll see part of that technical briefing.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

We will also have a dispute settlement process, which is distinct to that, with snap-back provisions—

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

I'm sorry; I don't want to cut you off, but I have a really limited amount of time. I do need to move on, because I would like to ask about the dairy sector as well.

With the market being open with supply management, there was a promise of $4.3 billion from the Conservative government, which was part of the original negotiations. Will you be offering that compensation package to dairy as well?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Let me finish on the auto sector. Allow me to say that I think we've achieved the greatest market access for the auto sector in Canada. One of the things that even the unions would tell you is that we stood up for them and we got a better deal.

Now with respect to dairy—

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

We'll find out at one o'clock.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Could you just hold on, Minister?

Ms. Ramsey, I know you want to get a whole bunch of questions in. Maybe if you ask all the questions, then he can answer them. That way we're not having this cut-off. I don't think you're getting good use of your time when everything is going the way it is.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

I think I'm getting good use of my time. I appreciate that, Chair. Thank you. I have no—

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Let the minister finish the answer before you jump in on another question.

You have the floor, sir.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

The dairy sector is also an important discussion we had, because two days later I met with about 30 representatives of the SM5, the supply-managed five, across the country, and we had discussions about the impact and the next steps. I met with the chair of the Dairy Farmers of Canada. To let you know, he lives about 10 minutes from my own house. I am as committed as anyone. I represent a rural riding and I have him about 10 minutes from where I live.

I engage—

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

I'm sorry, but will the compensation package come?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

What I can say is that we have decided, with the Dairy Farmers of Canada and the rest of the SM5, to first discuss the impact that the TPP can have. With the new configuration, people need to spend time to understand the impact. We're discussing next steps.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

So that's a maybe.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Your time is pretty well up, but there won't be time for another question. We're going to have to move over to the Liberals for five minutes.

Go ahead, Mr. Dhaliwal.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, welcome, and thank you to the officials.

Minister, you mentioned a Canada-China trade agreement. You were there, and the Prime Minister was there.

Has any progress been made since then, and how do you foresee moving forward? Do you see a positive or a negative outcome?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Well, we keep engaging with the Chinese officials with respect to possible future trade negotiations. We're still in exploratory talks. We're engaging at the official level and have been engaging with counterparts in China as well.

As I said, we want to do that. These agreements will be with us for decades, so it's not about next Monday or Tuesday or next Friday; it's about the next few decades.

What I was saying in answering a previous question is that it's fairly important for me to start with the right basis. We're doing that with eyes wide open, understanding that Canadians see the opportunities but also see challenges. We're doing that on our own timetable and in accordance with our values.

We're obviously going to keep engaging with our Chinese counterparts, and the discussion is ongoing.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

You mentioned emerging markets, and India is another emerging market. The Prime Minister is heading there tomorrow or the day after with a delegation, and you've been there many times.

Could you tell us what progress has been made? Prime Minister Modi was here as well. There were some MOUs signed by the previous government.

Can you tell us about the progress and the Prime Minister's visit to India?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

India is probably the country that I've been to most often since I became Minister of International Trade. It's a reflection of the importance of our relationship. As you know, we have about 1.4 million Canadians of Indian origin. Our bilateral trade is about $8 billion. I've been saying to my Indian counterpart that I think there's scope for more trade between Canada and India.

As you know, pulses are our biggest export, about 30%—more than $1 billion—so we've been engaging on that. The last time I was there, I think it was in November, we led our largest trade delegation. We had about 130 people with us. We met 11 ministers in India, both at the federal and state level.

We're going to continue. The relationship is certainly good. We want to see more investment. We want to see more trade. That's why I think the Prime Minister's visit is timely in building these relationships. As we diversify—and the imperative of diversification is clear to Canadians—India is a very interesting market.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Minister, you mentioned pulses as a big business going to India. Recently I have had many calls from the transport industry and people from the west about issues they are facing moving forward. Things have slowed down.

Are you making any progress on that front?