Evidence of meeting #39 for International Trade in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was work.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
That's understood. Thank you so much for that.
Now I'd like to go to the representative from the aluminum sector. Thank you again for your opening remarks.
You touched on some of the pressures you're facing from imports of aluminum. Could you elaborate on that so we all have a much better sense and a much better picture of the pressures your sector is facing?
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
Certainly, and thank you for the question.
If we look at 2023 and 2024 as averages in the pre-tariff regime, we can look at countries like Malaysia and Turkey. Last year, they brought in 40% to 50% more metal than they brought into the country in 2023 and 2024. This year alone, in early 2026, the United States has seen an increase in imports of 10%, or $3 million per month as an average increase.
These are numbers that we find challenging to compete with. Oftentimes, the folks who are importing from offshore can bring in a fully formed extrusion cheaper than I can buy a raw aluminum log from Quebec. It makes it very challenging to compete in this space when they are undercutting our market from a raw perspective.
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
We believe it's something similar to what steel has received: tariff rate quotas that would benchmark averages for 2023 or 2024. The steel TRQs have specified rates for market economies, which is 75% of the historical values, and non-market economies, which is 20% of the historical values, and then tariff rates above that.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
I'm sorry, Mr. Ehsassi, but your time is up. Thank you very much.
Mr. Deschênes, welcome to the committee today.
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here with you.
I thank the witnesses for joining us.
I'll start with you, Mr. Neil, because Quebec's primary aluminum sector accounts for 90% of Canada's total production. Can you tell us about the current impact of tariffs—which you mentioned briefly—in terms of job losses in Quebec?
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
Overall, as an industry, we've lost 500 jobs this year since the tariffs came into place. As a group, we're starting to assess the new impact of the section 232 tariffs. They're now on the full value of the extrusion, which is therefore tariffing our labour. We believe that this year alone, we'll lose another 500 to 1,000 jobs from the 3,500 that we sit at today.
How we look at it, from a Quebec perspective, is that the raw producers have a global product. They have a comparative advantage on energy. When you're smelting and casting the raw log, the lowest cost of energy will win that business. Our businesses—we take that log and push it through a press, and out comes a long shape that we cut, manufacture, colour, etc.—compete regionally. We draw a circle of about 500 miles or 800 kilometres around our facilities, and that's where we would compete.
The folks who bring material in from Malaysia, Turkey and Vietnam are bringing it in at such a low cost—30% or 40% lower than what we can produce it for in Canada—that we don't have a comparative advantage on labour versus countries like that. We don't have a comparative regulatory environment versus countries like that, so they're able to undercut us and impact our jobs in Canada.
Bloc
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
If I understand correctly, these job losses are mostly in Quebec, aren't they?
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
It's all across Canada. A colleague from Vancouver I was with in Ottawa on Monday and Tuesday has laid off 50% of their workforce. We've had a 10% reduction in our workforce in southwestern Ontario. Metra Canada has had layoffs in Quebec.
It's felt across our industry, which is across Canada.
Bloc
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
You mentioned companies that will have to shut down if something isn't done.
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
That's the trajectory we are on over the next two to three years. Businesses will close or businesses will move to the United States. Our business has a sister facility in eastern Kentucky. We are adding shifts at that facility because the demand is being driven to the U.S. while we cut shifts in Canada. Producers like us that only have Canadian facilities, like the colleague I mentioned from Vancouver, are looking to acquire facilities in the U.S. because that's where production is being driven. Other colleagues in Ontario are looking to greenfield facilities in the U.S. because that is where investment is being driven.
Bloc
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
How many closures or relocations do you anticipate within the next two or three years?
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
There are 10 member companies of our coalition that do exactly what we do. The losses depend on company-specific products they manufacture. Some of us are heavier into the auto space, and some of us are heavier into the architectural space or the building space. As those markets go or as those markets are eaten up by offshore imports, those businesses will lose shifts, close, or move facilities south of the border.
Bloc
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
About 10 companies are expected to be at risk within the next two or three years. How many jobs does that mean?
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
Our industry currently employs 3,500 employees directly across the country. We support over 100,000 other jobs in the SME sector that take our products and manufacture them into other items, whether it's [Technical difficulty—Editor].
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Hold on, Mr. Neil. We have a connection problem.
Mr. Neil, please continue now.
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
We currently have 3,500 direct employees within Canada in our industry. However, we support more than 100,000 jobs in other SMEs that take our products and further manufacture them, whether that's in rail systems like Bombardier-Alstom, in auto industries that are supported up and down through tier one sourcing in Canada, or in the architectural space. There's a vast utilization of our product across many industries.
Our 3,500 direct jobs may be the canary in the coal mine, and we may go first, but the hundreds of thousands of jobs that sit under us in the supply chain are likely to move as well and follow where the extrusions and the upstream manufacturing are done.
Bloc
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
The aluminum sector is the subject of a dumping complaint. I also heard mentioned that Canada plans to file a complaint against the United States. Is there any progress on that front?
Chief Financial Officer, Dajcor Aluminum, Canadian Coalition of Aluminum Extruders
We see challenges from low-cost regions that are importing materials into Canada. We've had a CITT case against China, but we know they are likely transshipping through other countries like Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. We don't have the enforcement capability to check mill certificates on all the products that enter our country.
I foresee challenges when Janice sits down across from the folks to negotiate CUSMA 2.0, and they see imports surging into Canada from low-cost regions. They might believe that Canada is a source to transship through into the U.S. for these countries. We need to close that back door, and we need to get back to the normalized levels we had in 2023 and 2024 for imports.
Liberal
Conservative
Jason Groleau Conservative Beauce, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, witnesses.
I will begin with Mr. Larkin, from the Canadian Meat Council. How important is the stability and predictability of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA, for Canadian producers?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Meat Council
Thank you for the question, Mr. Groleau.
It's extremely important. We have a member in Quebec, just south of Montreal, who has a plant in that area and also a plant in the U.S. They're one of the largest veal manufacturers in the world. I can tell you that there are concerns about the uncertainty between their business in Canada and their business in the U.S.
I have another member in Quebec, a pork processor, who is actually considering moving his entire business, his entire facility, from Quebec to the United States because of the current uncertainty. I hear concerns from that particular member almost on a weekly basis about the stability of CUSMA and the uncertainty caused by the American administration.
There are real impacts on jobs and real impacts on economics.
Conservative