Good afternoon, Madam Chair and committee members. Thank you for the invitation to be here today to take part in the consultations on Canada's international trade after COVID-19.
Just by way of background, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association is an industry association that represents Canada's leading manufacturers of light and heavy-duty motor vehicles. Our membership includes Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, FCA; Ford Motor Company; and General Motors, GM. CVMA members are responsible for the majority of vehicles manufactured in Canada, directly employing over 22,000 Canadians in well-paying, high-skilled jobs.
Over the past two months, the members of the CVMA have committed $4.8 billion in new investment to Canada, creating 3,700 direct new jobs and tens of thousands throughout the auto supply chain. International trade is absolutely critical to the auto industry and the new investments that have been made in Canada. More than 85% of vehicles that we assemble here are exported, with motor vehicles responsible for fully 10% of Canada's goods exports.
Today I'd like to make three points about Canada's international trade priorities after COVID-19. The first is that we should focus on North America. The U.S. is and will remain Canada's most important automotive trade partner in a post-COVID world. Given the highly integrated nature of the auto industry, a successful recovery from COVID-19 depends on unfettered market access across the North American trading bloc. To achieve this, we urge continued efforts to ensure smooth and seamless implementation of the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement, CUSMA. This includes working with the new U.S. administration to resolve outstanding implementation issues related to the core parts of rules of origin and used-vehicle trade.
We also recommend a redoubling of efforts to reduce border thickening. We applaud the government for attention early in the pandemic to maintain commercial cross-border movement of goods. However, auto manufacturers are now witnessing an increasing number of issues with technical experts facing challenges when crossing the border to perform critical functions. This is starting to have serious economic consequences that could threaten a sustainable export recovery from COVID-19 if not addressed immediately.
To address this challenge, we have asked the government to provide clearer guidance to border service officers on common entry scenarios, apply rapid testing at border crossings, and consider a border crossing pilot program for the automotive sector. This would support a fully functioning industry and ensure that significant new investments in Canada can progress and support trade while recognizing that the auto industry has put robust safety protocols in place across facilities to protect the health and safety of employees and the communities in which they operate.
The second key point I'd like to make today is that harmonization is the key to our prosperity. Canada produces vehicles primarily for the North American market. It's critical that Canada maintain national harmonized vehicle regulations and standards with the federal U.S. across safety, emissions criteria, chemicals management and GHG emissions. Harmonization is necessary to ensure that Canada continues benefiting from the integrated North American auto industry and the significant automotive investment flows and jobs it has created here for Canadians. Auto regulatory harmonization enables “one product, tested once and certified once for sale across one [Canadian and U.S.] market”. This has provided Canadian consumers with the greatest access to new and more advanced GHG-reducing technologies, safety features and vehicle model choice, as well as allowing industry to develop and manufacture these advanced technologies at the lowest cost.
If regulations are not harmonized in an integrated North American auto sector, Canada risks consumer access to new technology vehicles or services that are available in the larger U.S. market. It also puts Canada at risk of missing out on hotly contested new manufacturing mandates. We have largely harmonized auto regulations with the U.S. thanks to the regulatory co-operation council and work over past governments.
More recently, the highly integrated nature of the automotive manufacturing industry was ingrained in the recently signed CUSMA, which was ultimately an agreement largely about automotive trade. We must not put the enormous benefits of auto trade at risk through unaligned regulations. We recommend that the government engage with the new U.S. administration as quickly as possible to reinvigorate the RCC. The success of this really depends on support at the leader level.
As Canada moves forward with its trade agenda, it will also be important to examine market access for North American-built vehicles, including the acceptance and recognition of safety and technical standards pursuant to the Canadian motor vehicle safety standards. Our members build and export vehicles worldwide. It is important to ensure that rigorous and comprehensive safety standards, such as CMVSS, are recognized as equivalent to or better than other standard bodies, such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE.
It's important to note that regulatory harmonization does not preclude Canada from achieving its environmental policy objectives through complementary policy measures, such as accelerating the turnover of older, higher-emitting vehicles and incentivizing the adoption of newer, lower-emitting technology vehicles by Canadians.
Jurisdictional compatibility is also important in areas such as privacy. Vehicles are produced for an integrated North American market and need to operate seamlessly across jurisdictions. We encourage the federal government to take a leadership role to avoid a patchwork of privacy regulation that may hinder privacy objectives, create barriers for business and confusion for the consumer. Industry needs a clear and consistent policy landscape to support innovation and competitiveness for auto investment.
The third point, which I'll conclude on today, relates to infrastructure and the need to invest in trade-enabling infrastructure. Growing Canada’s trade in a post-COVID-19 world requires more trade-enabling infrastructure. This includes completion of the Gordie Howe International Bridge and additional port capacity to support activity such as vehicle on-loading and off-loading.
We witnessed just this summer how fragile Canada’s trade infrastructure really is when the Port of Montreal was closed due to labour action. The Port of Montreal strike caused a significant decrease in the port's national share of exports by water, with the share of exports down to 7.8%. That was from an average, typically, of around 15%. This disruption required rerouting, which added significant costs to production, increased uncertainty and ultimately undermined Canada’s competitiveness as a reliable jurisdiction for the production and movement of goods.
We believe that any post-COVID trade strategy should include efforts to boost our trade infrastructure and resiliency to protect against any future disruptions.
With that, I'll conclude my remarks. I look forward to any questions.