Thank you very much, Madam Chair and colleagues. It's a distinct pleasure to come back to the trade committee. That was my first post as minister, so I feel privileged to be with each and every one of you.
I know some of you are regulars—they tend to come to all of my appearances—so it's great to be well surrounded by friends.
I appreciate the opportunity to address this committee today on a topic that is key to the success of our economy.
I’m here today, Madam Chair, to speak about a uniquely Canadian success story: our auto sector.
Canada's automotive industry supports nearly 550,000 direct and indirect jobs in our country. Last year, it contributed something close to $18 billion to Canada's GDP, and it's one of the country's largest export industries.
For all of these reasons and more, our government is fiercely committed to supporting Canada's auto sector and the ongoing transition towards electrification.
Canada has a tremendous opportunity to seize this moment and leverage the transition to electric vehicles not only to create good jobs for decades to come and to spur innovation, but also to fight climate change. This transition is under way, and now is the time to act and seize the opportunities for future generations, as we have been able to do over the past few years. We cannot afford to continue to debate whether climate change even exists when the rest of the world is rapidly moving toward electrification.
In fact, Canada has everything it needs to lead in the global EV transition, and we should be proud as Canadians. We have a very strong automotive manufacturing ecosystem. Last week, I was in Brampton, with Mr. Sidhu, looking at the auto parts manufacturer. We have world-class talent and environmental standards, abundant sources of renewable energy, all the critical minerals to build the cars and batteries and unprecedented access to markets. That's why we have been able to build, right here in Canada, an end-to-end EV supply chain, which Bloomberg—imagine—has ranked first in the world, ahead of China.
Canadians have every right to be proud, and they're probably asking how we did it. Since 2020, through relentless efforts, we attracted investment in EVs and battery manufacturing as well as battery material processing through a number of initiatives. The first was to focus investment attraction—and a number of you contributed to that—through the strategic innovation fund and also the clean technology manufacturing and EV supply chain investment tax credits.
Our government is also making upstream investments, including through Canada's critical minerals strategy, to support projects and strengthen Canada's battery supply chain.
These significant investments are all likely to increase the supply of electric vehicles here in Canada and further encourage the transition of the automotive sector.
What Canada has accomplished in the past few years in the automotive sector is remarkable, and it is thanks to the talent, expertise and know-how of auto workers across the country.
However, we cannot and must not be naive. These investments, as well as Canada's automotive industry as a whole, are facing competition from Chinese producers, who benefit from non-market policies and practices. These policies and practices include unfair and pervasive subsidies, a lack of rigorous labour and environmental standards, and other measures to artificially lower production costs.
It is for these reasons that our government has been consulting on potential measures to address China's unfair trade practices in the EV sector.
Our analysis and the results of these consultations have only reinforced existing concerns about Chinese policies and practices. These practices harm the Canadian auto industry and our workers, while negatively impacting our transition to electric vehicles.
That's why our government recently announced the imposition of a 100% surtax on imports of EVs from China. The surtax will do three things. It will protect Canada's automotive industry from unfair Chinese trade practices, preserve our deeply integrated North American automotive supply chains and prevent the diversion of electric vehicle imports from China resulting from actions taken by third countries. In addition, our government announced its intention to examine concerns raised regarding unfair Chinese competition in other critical sectors, including batteries and battery parts, solar products, critical minerals and semiconductors. Last, but not least, we also announced action in response to concerns that were raised regarding unfair Chinese competition in the steel and aluminum sector.
Madam Chair, our government will always stand up for Canadian businesses and our Canadian workers, while defending them from the harmful effects of unfair trade policies. In conclusion, ensuring fair and open trade is and has always been a priority for our government. It will remain a key aspect of our commitment to protecting Canadian interests while, at the same time, maintaining strong relationships with our key trading partners.
Let's remember that, when everyone plays by the same rules, we—normally—win because we have the best and most talented workers in this country.
Thank you very much, and I look forward to questions from colleagues.