Evidence of meeting #5 for International Trade in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was agreement.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
President and Chief Executive Officer, Aluminium Association of Canada
Hold on.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Aluminium Association of Canada
We doubled capacity over a 20-year period starting in 1990.
February 18th, 2020 / 6:05 p.m.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
From 1990 to 2020, it's 30 years we are talking about, but during the last five or 10 years the aluminum capacity has increased worldwide, but not in Canada. There was a time when we were third. I think now we are number four. The entire aluminum industry in Canada is dependent on the North American market. We are talking about export diversification, but that is not coming from the aluminum industry at all.
Ms. Cobden, you said that this agreement strengthens and increases investment, which were the words you mentioned, but 20 years back, the production was around 16 million tonnes and now it is 15 million tonnes.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
What has been the increased installed capacity during the last 15 years?
President, Canadian Steel Producers Association
I don't know the answer to that, but I actually doubt that it has increased.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
The point is that we have a captured market due to NAFTA, now with this new NAFTA. Aluminum and steel producers are basically depending on this market, but I don't think you are going to export anywhere else in the world.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
Ms. King, we talked about that since Trump came in, it is affecting trade, but in 2012, our exports were $324 billion. Now in 2018-19, it was $319 billion. There's a small reduction, but basically there are no major exports in North America. Here we are with steel producers and aluminum producers basically dependent on one single market, whereas we are going ahead and signing agreements with the European Union and the CPTPP with Asia-Pacific countries, but if we continue to be dependent on this North American market alone, where do you see that the increase in exports, the increase in trade, is going to come from?
Chief Operating Officer, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Specifically for the North American market?
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
No.
Okay, start with the North American market. Where do you see it going? Can we ever see it going from $319 billion to over $400 billion?
Chief Operating Officer, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
I'm sorry. Can you repeat that last part?
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
Can you ever see the trade going from the current $320 billion to, say, about $350 billion?
Chief Operating Officer, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Yes, in the long term, certainly, but....
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
We are talking about 10 years where there has been no change.
Ms. Cobden, when you say "increased investment", do you foresee, with this new agreement, any increase in installed capacity in Canada in the steel industry?
President, Canadian Steel Producers Association
What I was talking about was really the issue of certainty.
The most important aspect—
Liberal
President, Canadian Steel Producers Association
What I know is that the U.S. market will continue to be critical for us, and this agreement helps to ensure that we can serve it. Whether there will be—
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
Basically, the steel industry in Canada is over 90% foreign-owned. Is that correct?
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
It's 90% foreign-owned. The ownership of the Canadian steel industry—