Thanks. It's great seeing you virtually again, Madam Chair.
Members of the committee, thanks for the opportunity to appear before you again to discuss the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA.
For those I haven't met, my name is Tyler Fulton. I'm the president of the Canadian Cattle Association, or CCA. I farm with my family near Birtle, Manitoba.
Through our provincial members, CCA represents approximately 60,000 beef producers across the country, supporting jobs, the economy, rural communities and food security. Through Canada's beef industry, over 350,000 jobs are created, and trade is a critical part of our sector.
I'm pleased to be here today to discuss Canada's most important trading relationship, that with the U.S., in the context of CUSMA.
The beef sector in Canada and the U.S. operates within a single market. We are fully integrated. Our industries built our infrastructure within the context of free trade. Live cattle, historically, have moved across the border relatively unimpeded and tariff-free, sometimes multiple times, before they become beef. They can then sometimes be traded one more time. Feed and inputs are also a critical part of the integrated market with the U.S. Integration lowers the costs for consumers on both sides of the border. It provides beef producers with more options and increases food security in Canada and the U.S.
The Canada-U.S. trading relationship and the upcoming review of CUSMA is the number one priority of Canada's beef sector. Each year, Canada's exports account for about half of the value of beef and live cattle that we produce. The U.S. accounts for 75% of those exports and Mexico about 5%. As we get closer to the CUSMA review, we are seeing more stakeholders on all sides of the border stand up and speak in favour of the important agreement.
Earlier this year, CCA was proud to join a trilateral agricultural industry letter to Minister LeBlanc and his counterparts in the U.S. and Mexico. The North American agricultural sector is aligned in supporting the renewal and strengthening of CUSMA. The beef cattle sector has built its business environment around CUSMA and its predecessors, NAFTA and CUSFTA. Our beef counterparts in the U.S. and Mexico also signed the letter. We are united in our asks of government to renew CUSMA.
CCA has been active since before the last U.S. election in working with stakeholders in the U.S. to promote our integration. We continue to engage with our U.S. counterparts, other stakeholders, Congress and, of course, our embassy on the ground. As we move forward towards the review, which will most certainly be a renegotiation, CCA is committed to working with government and stakeholders across North America to see through an agreement that keeps tariff-free trade flowing.
As you probably recall, I've recently spoken about our sector's concerns with the ongoing Mercosur negotiations at your committee. While I won't go into details again, I do flag the relationship of Mercosur to CUSMA. Our sector is worried that Canada is rushing to get a deal with Mercosur done on the eve of the CUSMA review without considering how this will impact our trading relationship with the U.S., Canada's largest trading partner.
We encourage Canada to keep CUSMA at the top of our trade agenda. While we support strategic trade diversification, when it comes to beef, Canada and the U.S. must work together to create the best product in the world. We cannot and should not jeopardize one of the best and largest beef supply chains in the world.
Thanks for your time. I look forward to your questions.