House of Commons Hansard #351 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was tariffs.

Topics

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

6:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #933

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

6:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

The House resumed from October 31 consideration of the motion that Bill C-375, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (presentence report), be read the third time and passed.

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

6:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Acting Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill C-375 under private members' business. The question is on the motion.

May I dispense?

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

6:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

6:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Acting Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

[Chair read text of motion to House]

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #934

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I declare the motion carried.

(Bill read the third time and passed)

The House resumed from November 1 consideration of the motion that Bill C-376, An Act to designate the month of April as Sikh Heritage Month, be read the third time and passed.

Sikh Heritage Month ActPrivate Members' Business

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill C-376 under private members' business.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #935

Sikh Heritage Month ActPrivate Members' Business

7:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I declare the motion carried.

(Bill read the third time and passed)

The House resumed from November 5 consideration of the motion that Bill C-316, An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act (organ donors), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Canada Revenue Agency ActPrivate Members' Business

7:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division of the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-316, under private members' business.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #936

Canada Revenue Agency ActPrivate Members' Business

7:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Health.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

The House resumed from November 6 consideration of the motion that Bill C-393, An Act to amend the Canadian Multiculturalism Act (non-application in Quebec), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Canadian Multiculturalism ActPrivate Members' Business

7:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at the second reading stage of Bill C-393 under private members' business. The question is on the motion.

(The House divided on the motion, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #937

Canadian Multiculturalism ActPrivate Members' Business

7:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I declare the motion lost.

I wish to inform the House that because of the delay, there will be no Private Members' Business hour today.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

International TradeAdjournment Proceedings

7:35 p.m.

Independent

Erin Weir Independent Regina—Lewvan, SK

Mr. Speaker, in June, I asked whether the government would consider sanctioning President Trump's personal business interests in order to lift the American tariffs from our steel and aluminum exports.

I would like to begin by mentioning the high cost of these tariffs for our country. Not only have they reduced current exports and cost jobs in the present, they are also hurting investments in Canada's steel and aluminum industries, which will be costing our economy and employment in the long term as well.

What has the government done so far? Well, it has applied reciprocal tariffs on American steel and aluminum coming into our country. It also has retaliatory tariffs targeting products coming from politically sensitive American electoral districts. While that was a very clever type of retaliation, I really think it has run its course, given that they had American mid-term elections yesterday, with whatever political consequences have been felt. Unfortunately, the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs still apply to Canadian exports. Therefore, we need to look at other options.

As I suggested back in June, one option could be to sanction the personal business interests of President Trump. Unlike previous American presidents, he has not divested his business assets. This makes him uniquely vulnerable to the possibility of sanctions from other countries. I would like to hear what the government's response is to that option.

I think another option we need to look at involves the recently agreed to USMCA. Just this evening, CBC reported that our ambassador to the United States has indicated that the Prime Minister will not participate in a signing ceremony as long as the American steel and aluminum tariffs remain in place. However, it does seem that the government is prepared to go ahead and sign the agreement. CNN interviewed the Prime Minister, and he said, “We're not at the point of saying that we wouldn't sign if it wasn't lifted, although we're trying to make that case.”

It sounds as though the government is prepared to go ahead and sign the USMCA, even if American tariffs continue to apply to Canadian steel and aluminum exports. I think that is a big problem.

One of the obvious goals of a free trade agreement should be to not have that type of tariff in place between our two countries. Therefore, I find it concerning that the government is already signalling, by way of this interview the Prime Minister did on CNN, that the government is prepared to go ahead and sign the USMCA, even if the U.S. keeps these tariffs in place. I think we need our government to take a much stronger stand on that point, and we really need to see some strong action to get these American tariffs off our steel and aluminum exports.

To sum up, we have these American tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum being sold south of the border. It is imposing huge costs on Canada's economy and on Canadian workers. My constituents and other Canadians need to know what the government's plan is and what the government's timeline will be to have these American tariffs removed.

International TradeAdjournment Proceedings

7:40 p.m.

John Oliver Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, Lib.

Mr. Speaker, last month we reached consensus with the U.S., alongside Mexico, on a new modernized North American free trade agreement for the 21st century. Our government fought hard to reach a good agreement and we were successful. The ties across North America are essential for our shared economic prosperity, and we look forward to further deepening our close economic ties with the U.S. and Mexico.

On the question of U.S. section 232 tariffs, our position remains unchanged. The U.S. tariffs imposed under the rationale of national security on steel and aluminum are unacceptable and an affront to the long-standing security partnership between the U.S. and Canada. These tariffs are illegitimate and unjustified, and that is a message that we have repeatedly shared with the U.S. administration.

It is overwhelmingly in the best interests of both Canada and the United States for these reciprocal tariffs to be lifted. In the meantime, we have taken strong, responsive measures to defend our steel and aluminum workers. That is why we responded earlier in July by imposing tariffs against U.S. imports, worth $16.6 billion, equivalent to the value of Canadian steel and aluminum trade affected. This is the largest trade action Canada has taken since World War II.

Our government has also announced it is making available up to $2 billion to defend and protect the interests of Canadian workers and businesses in the steel, aluminum and manufacturing industries. These measures are helping to strengthen the competitiveness of Canada's steel and aluminum companies and contribute to economic growth while increasing the capacity of the industries to innovate, grow value-added, support product and market diversification, and create and sustain jobs for Canadians.

As we have always said, the NAFTA talks are completely separate from these illegal section 232 tariffs. However, now that we have completed the USMCA, we have some wind in our sails and we continue to work for the permanent removal of the U.S. tariffs. In the meantime, our reciprocal countermeasures will remain in place until the tariffs are removed, and we are challenging the U.S. tariffs under World Trade Organization and NAFTA rules. All Canadians can rest assured that the removal of the section 232 tariffs is a priority for our government.