Thank you, Chair, for the introduction.
Honourable members, it's a pleasure to be back at the committee for my first appearance of the 44th Parliament. It's good to see both new and familiar faces.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is glad to see that the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade has decided to prioritize a Canada-U.S. study. Certainly in any relationship that's this vast, there are going to be complexities and frictions that emerge.
Perhaps I will start off by saying a brief word about three of those challenges.
The first is a concern that we have heard from some members about the implications of the U.S. EV tax credit proposal in the Build Back Better Act. Although as of today the Build Back Better legislation looks comatose, the Canadian Chamber, as a matter of general principle, certainly remains concerned with measures that would reinforce buy American principles and that would disrupt cross-border supply chains and put Canadian-based operations at a potential competitive disadvantage.
I should just note and parenthetically thank the honourable members on this committee who have been active in taking a stand against various buy American measures that have come from Washington, D.C.
The second I'd like to note is, of course, the committee's interest in the softwood lumber issue. For longer than I've been wearing a suit jacket and a tie, this has been a significant trade irritant. Certainly we are disappointed to see the continued application of tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber exports to the United States, and we're hoping to see negotiations start toward a renewed softwood lumber agreement. The imperative from the Canadian Chamber membership was underscored at our last in-person AGM in 2019, where delegates overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on the government to initiate negotiations toward a new softwood lumber deal.
The third irritant that's worth highlighting is the ongoing discussions around Line 5. Proposals like the one to shut down Line 5, I think, are a perfect illustration of what happens when evidenced-based policy-making goes out the window. Certainly businesses on both sides of the border want to see a greener economy, but energy security does play a crucial role in the decarbonization process, because if we can't have certainty on where our energy and fuel supplies are coming from, it becomes much harder to advance a conversation about decarbonization and the economy, and certainly having more oil moved by trucks and trains is a much less safe mode of transportation.
However, as those who have the vantage point of being able to look at the breadth of the relationship from many sectors, we often find ourselves in the supplicant position, if I can put it that way. As I've said at this committee and in other forums, there is no one in Washington, D.C. who is waking up in the morning looking to do us a favour. It therefore remains critical not to make unforced moves like, for example, the retroactive application of a digital services tax that risks retaliation. Instead, what we need to do is proactively work with the United States on shared challenges and not let initiatives like the road map partnership wither on the vine.
Perhaps I can just say a brief word on three items that I would put forward for the committee's consideration. The first is collaboration on critical minerals and being able to leverage the joint action plan that was launched several years ago, ensuring that we are actually able to have a North American supply chain to support defence, consumer and industrial applications.
The second is strengthening the continental defence industrial base. Economic and national security are inherently linked together and can't be separated. Certainly we need to renew the strategic framework for defence industrial co-operation and also leverage opportunities like NORAD modernization to be able to have a strong industrial development component to help Canadian companies.
The third, of course, is supply chain resiliency, a major topic of discussion in Ottawa, Washington and capitals around the world. The Prime Minister and the President created a supply chain working group on the margins of the North American Leaders' Summit last autumn. Certainly we urge the government to engage industry in those efforts to ensure that real-world progress is being made, and also to renew initiatives like the regulatory co-operation council and have refreshed work plans that reflect our challenges.
Thank you for the invitation. I look forward to the conversation.