Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mount Royal.
I would like to take some time today to talk about the relationship between Canada and the United States, the trade relationship specifically, because it is germane to the discussion we are having as it relates to understanding what the relationship is like between Canada and the United States and how important it is to both countries.
I will remind members that no two nations are dependent more on each other for their mutual security and prosperity than Canada and the United States. We are stronger together, and as recent history has shown during the COVID-19 pandemic, we can rely on the strength and security of that relationship between Canada and the United States, and the supply chains that exist.
Canada and the U.S. have one of the largest trading relationships in the world, and I will provide a few trade figures that underscore the sheer scale of our cross-border trade.
In 2019, bilateral trade in goods and services totalled $1 trillion. That is more than $2.7 billion in trade every single day. Our level of economic integration is unique. Approximately 76% of Canadian exports to the U.S. are inputs used to make goods in the U.S., and in addition to what we sell to the U.S., contains on average roughly 20% American content. We make things together and value together.
Canada is the number one export market for most U.S. states; 32 in 2019 and 2020 to be more precise. Approximately 75% of Canada's goods export to the U.S. The U.S. is the single greatest investor in Canada. In 2020, the U.S. stock investment in Canada was $457 billion, representing nearly half of all investment in Canada, and Line 5 is part of this relationship.
Our enduring trade relationship, starting with the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 1989 and continuing with NAFTA in 1994, has been a model for success in the world. We renewed our commitment to the commercial relationship with the coming into force of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA. This new NAFTA addresses modern trade challenges, reduces red tape at the border and provides enhanced predictability and stability for workers and businesses across the integrated North American market. These outcomes strengthen our commercial relationship, promote new opportunities for Canadians and support our collective economic prosperity.
Crucially, the new agreement preserves virtually duty-free trade in North America and ensures continued predictability and secure market access for Canadian exporters to the United States. Under the agreement, Canada and the U.S. offer trade on similar terms, and bilateral trade is generally balanced. These outcomes reinforce integrated North American supply chains and help enhance our competitiveness globally.
Importantly, the new NAFTA also incorporates new and modernized provisions that seek to address 21st century issues, including digital trade, small and medium-sized enterprises, good regulatory practices and binding obligations on labour and environment. The new agreement supports inclusive trade with outcomes that advance interests of importance to gender equality and indigenous peoples.
The U.S. represents an especially attractive market for Canada's under-represented exporters, including women, indigenous and racialized peoples and LGBTQ entrepreneurs. We are pleased to have implemented an agreement that preserves the elements of NAFTA that are most important to Canadians and are fundamental to support cross-border trade and investment, such as the NAFTA chapter 19 binational panel dispute settlement mechanism, the cultural exemption and the provisions on temporary entry for business persons.
Our unique relationship with the United States was recognized in a “Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership” announced by the Prime Minister and President Biden on February 23. The two leaders committed to work closely together in many areas, including launching strategies to strengthen that relationship and supply chain security. My colleagues across the government and myself are working with our U.S. counterparts to strengthen and advance our integrated bilateral supply chains in areas critical to growth and seeking other ways to continue to build together.
This collaboration contributes to the North American competitive advantage on the world stage, which, in addition to CUSMA, is bolstered by our integrated energy market, long-standing foreign policy and security co-operation, and is resilient and well-balance in the supply chains. Canada and the U.S. can be competitive internationally with an integrated North American market.
Despite continued collaboration and success, there are always going to be challenges such as those with softwood lumber and what we are seeing today. U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber, for example, are unwarranted and unfair. This long-standing trade irritant distracts from the strong commercial relationship with the U.S., hampers current efforts and economic recovery, and harms workers and communities across Canada as well as U.S. consumers and home builders.
Canada remains ready to work together with the United States to find durable, mutually acceptable negotiated outcomes to this dispute. In the meantime, Canada will continue to vigorously pursue its challenges of U.S. duties under NAFTA chapter 19, CUSMA chapter 10, before the WTO.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought into focus the complexity and deep integration of medical supply chains between Canada and the U.S. Our collaboration allows for smooth flow of personal protective equipment across the border and into the hands of health care workers in both countries. It is important to keep our integrated supply chains working and ensure that products can flow across the borders unimpeded.
Canada is a trading nation with the U.S. and is by far the most important export destination. Approximately 80% of new exporters are SMEs that export to a single market, and almost 70% of new exporters choose the U.S. as their first export destination. The U.S. is a proven testing ground for new exporters and established ones piloting a new product or service.
Most Canadian exporters active in overseas markets originally began their exporting journey in the U.S., and the markets remain attractive to new exporters, particularly as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic both limits international travel and exacerbates the risk of faulty business decision-making in unfamiliar cultural environments.
This is a challenging business environment. Canada's Trade Commissioner Service in the U.S. is continuing to adapt and bring new service offerings to support Canadian companies of all sizes. E-commerce and related technologies are playing a critical role at this time and this will likely accelerate in the coming months. The Trade Commissioner Service is committed to supporting our companies to take advantage of this shift to digital trade by helping more exporters access online e-commerce platforms and helping our digital start-ups access the U.S. and other major players in a global and tangible economy.
To briefly summarize, Canada and the U.S. enjoy one of the most productive, collaborative and mutually beneficial bilateral relationships in the world. The continued safe operation of Line 5 supports this for both nations. Our government is deeply committed to further building on this foundation as we continue to keep our people safe and healthy from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic and work toward our mutual economic recovery and growth.