Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the invitation to be here this morning. There's always a lot of important work being done at this committee, and we're always pleased to be here.
It is really important, and I want to commend the committee for doing such an extensive consultation with Canadians. I think it is worth highlighting that this is meeting number 27 on this subject—27—and a lot of those meetings have been marathons with upwards of dozens of groups providing testimony in a single day. On top of that, the minister of trade, and Parliamentary Secretary Lametti, whom I'm pleased to see here this morning, have also been conducting dozens of consultations with groups and companies and holding public town halls across the country. There was one just last night, which I understand was quite interesting. We had a few beef farmers of Ontario there.
I would say that you are really to be commended for beating the bushes and giving everyone an opportunity to have a voice. As you said, I know you have heard from Canadian beef producers in several provinces. They've given me some feedback that they were very appreciative to have that opportunity to meet with you in their home provinces. They don't often have the committees coming out to some of those towns, so that was very much appreciated.
What you would have heard is that Canadian beef producers are strongly supportive of the TPP. We achieved our primary objective in those negotiations, which was to re-level the playing field for Canadian beef exports to Japan. Japan was a $103-million export market for Canadian beef in 2014. That was down a bit in 2015, and we don't yet have enough data to know what 2016 is going to look like, but so far this year it's looking like it's keeping pace with last year.
You've heard that one of our real concerns is that Australia has seized a competitive advantage over us by already implementing a free trade agreement with Japan last year. While Canadian beef is still subject to a 38.5% tariff in Japan, Australian beef has already enjoyed its first three tariff cuts. It's down to 30.5% for chilled beef, and 27.5% for frozen. Rates on both of those products are going to continue dropping further, and that disadvantage will grow.
Once the TPP is implemented, if the TPP is implemented, and I know that decision hasn't been made yet, that tariff inequality will immediately be levelled and then decrease in lockstep with our other TPP partners, to 9% over 15 years. We feel that with the TPP we can double or nearly triple our beef exports to Japan, to about $300 million a year. Without the TPP or a bilateral agreement with Japan, Canada will likely lose around 80% of the value of our exports to Japan.
Beyond Japan, the TPP secures our future access to Vietnam and Malaysia. Although those countries aren't traditionally large beef importers or consumers, we foresee people in these markets moving up the income ladder in the future, and as people earn more disposable income, we know they tend to eat more beef.
The TPP also gives us the opportunity to seek concessions from prospective members, such as Korea and Taiwan, as those countries negotiate their admission with the existing members.
Those are the benefits for us. I want to spend just the last bit of my time commenting on the strategy of where we go from here. We understand that the TPP cannot go forward without the U.S. It's fair to say it's not certain what the U.S. is going to do with that agreement.
The CCA believes that the Government of Canada should actively consider whether there's a better strategy than waiting to see what the U.S. will do. American agriculture groups are working very hard in Washington to explain to their congressmen and senators how vital the TPP is for America's farmers. They're worried that if the U.S. rejects the TPP, other countries, including Canada, are going to seize the opportunity to fill the void, and that's not just speculation. We know that Australia already has, as I talked about that. We know that the European Union already launched negotiations with Japan in 2013, and they've had 16 negotiating rounds since that time.
I hope our U.S. counterparts will also be correct that Canada will not be content to wait for the U.S. to lead the way for us. The Canadian Cattlemen's Association hopes that Canada will formulate a made-in-Canada strategy to ensure that Canadian exporters are not disadvantaged.
Canada and Japan launched bilateral free trade agreement negotiations in 2012. This committee held numerous hearings and issued a report in 2013 that had very positive conclusions and recommendations. That committee report envisioned that bilateral FTA negotiations and the TPP could proceed in parallel, and that the TPP was not a substitute for a bilateral agreement. Since that time, seven negotiating rounds have been held, but we haven't had one since November 2014.
I would suggest that Canada's taking care of its own interests in Japan would not require starting from scratch. We're already well beyond the preliminary work, and the government machinery is already in place to proceed. Moreover, reigniting a bilateral initiative with Japan would not go unnoticed in Washington. A Canadian strategy and efforts with Japan can help to motivate the Americans to recognize their own self-interest in implementing TPP.
I'll conclude by telling you that Canada's more than 68,000 beef farmers would solidly support the Government of Canada moving quickly to finalize a bilateral FTA, both on its own merit and as a strategic initiative to encourage others to move on implementing the TPP.
Thank you.