Evidence of meeting #8 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 china.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
I gather that the United States doesn't have the capacity to produce enough canola to feed its own herds. It produces some, but not as much as we do, and it needs ours.
Does this sum up the situation?
Senior Director, Government and Industry Relations, Canola Council of Canada
They produce, obviously, a lot of soy. Soybean meal is used quite heavily in the United States as well. We found a place where canola meal can outperform soybean meal, not just in price but also in terms of benefits for dairy production in California. We continue to develop those markets.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Kilby, my first question is for you.
If I understand your testimony correctly, you feel that the aluminum extrusion industry is being overlooked in the current discussions on trade matters. Is that correct?
Chief Executive Officer, Dajcor Aluminum Ltd., Canadian Aluminum Extruders Coalition
Yes, that's why I'm here. I'm here to push our voice up and differentiate ourselves from the primary producers.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Excellent. Thank you for doing that here.
We obviously make recommendations, as this committee. Taking into account your view that the government is not appropriately addressing your concerns, what would your recommendations be?
Chief Executive Officer, Dajcor Aluminum Ltd., Canadian Aluminum Extruders Coalition
Our short-term recommendation is to put up a trade barrier to keep metal coming from low-cost countries and some European countries into Canada, so we can bring forward a trade case. That would be an immediate ask. Second is to try to negotiate away the aluminum tariffs.
Those would be the two key things.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Thank you.
Mr. Sherman, I have a question for you.
In a similar vein, do you feel that the canola industry's concerns are being adequately addressed here in Ottawa?
Senior Director, Government and Industry Relations, Canola Council of Canada
We are continuing to discuss with government what the supports need to look like. Obviously, as I mentioned before, and we have been public about it, the announcement on September 5 did miss the mark. We are hopeful that we will be able to address and rightsize some of those announcements to better benefit the Canadian canola industry at a time when we need net new demand—let's be very clear about that—particularly from a domestic biofuels industry.
We also need to make sure that we can compete on a level playing field when it comes to feedstocks for our own biofuel production here. There is an issue around imports of likely or possibly fraudulent used cooking oil displacing Canadian canola as a feedstock. We think they have an unfair advantage, so we proposed some measures to address that through regulation.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Thank you.
Mr. Adams, my final question is for you.
If I understood your testimony correctly, you said your members produce about 75% to 80% of the light-duty vehicles produced in Canada. Is that correct?
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
How much of that in percentage terms would be exported to the United States versus sold in Canada?
President, Global Automakers of Canada
Approximately 90% would go to the United States.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Given that, how do you feel about the competitive position of your members versus the Detroit three in the current situation?
President, Global Automakers of Canada
It's a bit of a tale of two cities. I think our two manufacturing members are still operating at full production. They've not instituted any layoffs. Obviously, a tariff situation is very challenging at the moment and will continue to be challenging as long as it goes on, and that's why we need that resolution to the section 232 tariffs as soon as possible.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Would it be fair to say that your Ontario plants would be disproportionately affected if there were no automotive deal in the coming weeks or months?
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
We've heard rumours of deals, and dates have gone by, as you've probably heard. We thought we were receiving a deal by July 21, and then there was a September date. It seems like these dates are passing us by.
If there's some movement on autos and if there are quotas involved, what would your view on that be? The quotas would be the number of vehicles that could be exported to the United States versus the number of vehicles that could be imported into Canada from the United States.
President, Global Automakers of Canada
That's a situation that's contemplated in the automotive side letter under CUSMA. That provides for quotas going into the United States. That's an option for sure that needs to be considered. The other reality is that 40% of the vehicles sold in this country come from the United States, so that's the highest export jurisdiction for U.S. autos. I think that needs to be something we keep at the forefront of our negotiations.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Adams, you answered a question from my colleague about the percentage of cars produced in Canada and sent to the United States. I was about to ask you the same question.
Are some of these cars also sent to Mexico?
President, Global Automakers of Canada
I don't have a line of sight on that, but I could attempt to get that information to the committee.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
You mainly talked about Honda and Toyota. What are the other manufacturers?
President, Global Automakers of Canada
In Canada, we have five manufacturers: Honda, Toyota, General Motors, Chrysler or Stellantis, and Ford. I represent the two Japanese manufacturers. My other member companies are the exclusive Canadian distributors of their brands in Canada, which include BMW Canada, Hyundai Canada, Volkswagen Canada, and so on and so forth, but we only have five manufacturers in Canada at the moment.
