Good morning. Thank you for your invitation. If I had received it sooner, I could have joined you.
The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal has been in place for nearly 200 years to represent the business community of Metropolitan Montreal. For 36 years, we've been connecting businesses to export markets. To do so, we're supported by the Government of Canada through Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. We raise funds from businesses and the private sector. We're also supported by the Government of Quebec.
This experience in international markets first led us to understand the importance of the American market. For decades, Montreal's business community has been acutely aware of the importance of American markets, both for their growth and supply and, in the case of many businesses, for the efficiency of their production chain. This chain is well integrated and it crosses the border in both directions. As a result, for more than 20 years, the Chamber of Commerce has supported the implementation of free trade agreements in a sustainable, strong and permanent manner. From our point of view, the agreement with the United States is obviously the cornerstone of our economic development.
Seventy percent of Quebec's exports are destined for the United States. We estimate that 20% of Quebec's GDP depends on this fluid trade relationship with the United States. Over the years, the number of jobs here directly related to trade with the United States has grown steadily. In many cases, these positions are very well-paying jobs, either in the Montreal region or throughout Quebec.
The free trade agreement that needed to be renewed and that became CUSMA was crucial. We supported this renewal from the beginning. In addition, nearly two years ago, we invited 24 chamber of commerce leaders from major North American cities—eight leaders from the United States, eight from Canada and eight from Mexico—to Montreal to discuss what we could do to ensure that the agreement was renewed. We were extremely pleased to see the progress made and, ultimately, the renewal of an agreement.
As part of the renewal of this agreement, we've heard that things could have been even better, particularly with regard to aluminum. Similarly, during the negotiation of the agreement with the European Union, issues arose among agricultural producers. We believe that no agreement is perfect and, in this case, we probably have the best agreement that we could have hoped for with the United States. We believe that some areas could have been improved, with regard to aluminum, for example. However, our challenge is to find out how we can help the aluminum sector and not in any way to block, reject or delay the implementation and ratification of the agreement.
Our message to you and to all politicians is that there's no ambiguity from the point of view of the economy of Quebec, the Montreal region and Montreal-based businesses, and that the agreement must be ratified without delay and implemented as quickly as possible.
Thank you.