Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
It was my intention to be there in person but thought best to not be coughing or sneezing all over my colleagues. Here I am virtually speaking to you.
Good morning to you, the vice-chairs and all members of the committee.
Let me begin by acknowledging that I am speaking to you from the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. For those of us who are settlers or immigrants to Canada, it's important to remember that indigenous peoples have always been here and that we all have a role to play in reconciliation.
I want to thank the Standing Committee on International Trade for inviting me to speak to you on the important work that you do. I'm always very happy to assist you with your work and to provide today an update to you and to Canadians on the work that our government has been doing on international trade.
When I appeared before this committee five months ago, I said it was a pivotal time for our economy, for Canadians and for Canada's approach to trade. That remains true today.
As we continue to recover from the pandemic and build our economic resilience, how we trade, with whom we trade and what we trade matters more than ever. Securing, strengthening and diversifying our supply chains matter more than ever. Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has reminded us all that we cannot take our rules-based trading system for granted. The importance of Canada being a world leader in championing progressive, sustainable and inclusive trade matters more than ever. As Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, this is where my work is focused.
First, we need to deepen Canada's trade and investment relationships with partners around the world in order to continue to open new markets to Canadian businesses and exporters.
Second, we must support Canadian businesses to expand and grow beyond Canada, contributing to our economic growth and creating good middle-class jobs from coast to coast to coast.
I'm pleased to share that we are making progress toward our trade and investment targets. We continue to build and safeguard an open and inclusive rules-based global trading system, and we're supporting Canadian exporters and innovators so they can be successful in scaling up their operations into those international markets.
We're seeing this work through the numbers. Trade with our closest trading partner, the United States, surpassed a trillion dollars last year. As many of you, if not all of you, heard from the President just a couple of days ago, this is $2.5 billion of trade a day that goes between Canada and the United States.
Since our government signed CETA with the European Union in 2016, our trade has increased by almost 53% from pre-CETA levels, and with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, our trade has grown more than 10% since the inception of that agreement.
Prime Minister Trudeau welcomed President Biden to Ottawa for a very productive two-day discussion last week. The United States and Canada have a long-standing trading relationship. The United States is our ally, and the President reaffirmed the closeness of this relationship.
We're working together towards a shared vision for a more competitive, inclusive and greener North America. Together, we'll build our economic resilience. Together, we're ensuring that trade benefits everyone, including our workers, our small and medium-sized businesses, and those who have traditionally been under-represented in our economies. Together, we're confronting the challenges of climate change.
You heard the President say that, by working together, we will build the green economy. There are enormous opportunities for Canada and the United States to work even more closely together, creating good-paying jobs on both sides of the border. Throughout history, Canada and the U.S. have taken on big challenges, and we are doing that again.
Canada and the U.S. are launching an energy transformation task force to accelerate our work together over the next year across the spectrum of the clean economy. We'll focus on promoting trade in clean goods, including green clean steel and aluminum, and we'll continue to collaborate on renewable energy, electric vehicle supply chains and the critical minerals value chains. That means good opportunities in those value chains for Canadian businesses, including small and medium-sized businesses, that will in turn create good opportunities for people to thrive and have great careers.
Semiconductors are enabling advances in clean energy, communication, computing and more. Canada has a vital role to play in the North American semiconductor ecosystem.
Because of the close partnership between Canada and the U.S., last year the U.S. announced a $250-million U.S. investment in the Defense Production Act for Canadian and U.S. companies to mine and process critical minerals for electric vehicles and stationary storage batteries. Just a couple of days ago on this visit, the United States announced an additional $50 million U.S. in the Defense Production Act to fund U.S. and Canadian companies for advanced packaging for semiconductors and printed circuit boards.
Why is this good? It's good because for Canadian companies to work alongside American companies in this important value chain in critical sectors in this green economy will mean growth for our Canadian businesses, including our small and medium-sized businesses.
With a relationship as large as the one we have with the United States, of course, we have issues that we are going to have to work on together, like softwood lumber. Now in the fifth round of the dispute, unfair U.S. duties are causing harm to the Canadian industry and the communities that rely on it, as well as to U.S. consumers. I raised directly with the President of the United States the need for a negotiated solution.
Now more than ever, it's critical that we grow our trade and strengthen our supply chains with our partners who are our friends. This is not just our CUSMA partners, but also our partners in the Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific region is one of the fasting-growing regions in the world. By 2030, it's going to be home to two-thirds of the global middle class. By 2040, the region will account for more than half of the global economy. It will represent significant opportunities for years to come.
In the last year, I have visited the Indo-Pacific 13 times, most recently last month, when I brought over 170 companies to Singapore on a team Canada trade mission. While we establish new partnerships and opportunities across the Pacific, we're also strengthening our relationships on the other coast—the Atlantic. You heard me say earlier that our trading relationship with the European Union has grown by nearly 53%. This is really good for business, but the line that I would draw your attention to is the growth in trade in environmental goods and services, which have consistently seen growth. This really speaks to the importance of growing our green economy, not only with the United States but with our partners in the European Union as well.
Just two weeks ago, while I was on the other side of the Atlantic, I led a team trade mission to the United Kingdom with women in tech businesses. There, we saw women entrepreneurs in tech who are leading the way and growing their opportunities in the United Kingdom. Here, of course, we are at the negotiating table, working with the U.K. to further strengthen our trade and investment ties to that long-standing ally.
As we negotiate new agreements and modernize existing ones, Canada will lead with our values when it comes to our work around the world, and we expect companies around the world to do the same.
This will take me to Canada's mining industry, which is known for strong, sustainable and responsible mining. Canada is one of the most sought-after partners by countries around the world, including in the global south. Like many industries that recognize the shift to a more responsible, sustainable and inclusive way of doing business, it's critical to building a competitive 21st-century Canadian mining industry, and they are leading the way in adapting to these challenges.
They are working from a strong foundation. I want to give a shout-out to the Canadian Mining Association for initiatives like “Towards Sustainable Mining”, which is designed to ensure responsible and sustainable operations for Canadian mining companies around the world. Through their leadership, they have now worked with 12 other countries that will also adopt “Towards Sustainable Mining,” so that as a global community we are doing this together.
It's a commitment for these companies here in Canada that will require mine sites to report on performance indicators related to biodiversity, climate change, indigenous and community relationships, health and safety, and more. It's the first standard to require independent external verifications. It aims to modernize and adapt to address new realities, challenges and priorities like transparency and action on forced labour, and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in the mining workforce.
Let me share a wonderful example of a company that I met most recently in Mexico: Canada's Torex Gold. It's the second-largest gold producer operating in Mexico. They have received some of the highest scores for mining standards and community engagement, and they have an almost 50% female leadership. Leading with Canadian values front and centre, it works.
Mining is also seeing an expanded interest and prioritization as businesses innovate and develop green solutions that will accelerate the transition to net zero. For these to become a reality, critical minerals are going to be key building blocks for the green and digital economy of the future.
Here in Canada, we're blessed with an abundant supply. They're essential to lowering emissions. They're key to electric vehicles and advanced batteries for security and tech manufacturing and for semiconductors. In short, they're the basic elements of everyday life.
That's why our government developed a critical minerals list and a critical minerals strategy, backed by $4 billion, for the 31 minerals considered essential for the success of Canada as a global mining leader.
Canada is not only producing these minerals, but we are setting our country up to be the global leader and to be the supplier of choice. We don't want to just produce them here. We want to build out the entire value chain here at home and grow our businesses—particularly our small and medium-sized businesses—every step of the way. It means doing the processing here in Canada, doing the refining here in Canada and, further downstream, doing the advance component manufacturing all here in Canada.
I know all of us here today are thinking about what the future looks like. For Canada, our future is one where the mining and mineral processing industries can grow and thrive in a responsible, sustainable, inclusive and environmentally friendly way. It's a future where we are united in our goals, with Canada meeting the United Nations sustainable development goals and net-zero emissions by 2050. It's a future that is healthier for generations to come, more accessible for all and keeps us even more connected.
I know that future isn't far off, especially when Canada works with the mining industry, our provincial and territorial partners, and indigenous partners in pursuit of making this reality. Be it here at home or abroad, we will continue to ensure that good jobs, fair agreements and progressive approaches that benefit Canadians and our economy will be the work that we're focused on doing.
I look forward to talking about the progress that we've made, and I'm happy to take questions, Madam Chair.
I apologize for those brief interludes of coughing and sneezing.
