Debates of Nov. 26th, 2024

U.S. Tariffs on Canadian Products

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Mr. Speaker, our government has a proven track record of standing up for Canadians when it comes to our relationship with the U.S. That is very clear. When the U.S. imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel, we put in dollar-for-dollar tariffs and the U.S. backed off.

Let us talk about the Conservatives. The Conservative record is very different. During USMCA negotiations, it was the Conservative Party's position that we needed to capitulate to the U.S. That is not what we did. We stood firm and protected steel workers, auto workers, agriculture workers and dairy farmers. We came out with a win-win right across the board.

Our government will always do whatever it takes to protect our workers and our national interest.

[Louis-Philippe Sauvé, Bloc, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I heard my colleague talk about the “team Canada” approach. The only thing he discussed in his speech was the automotive industry in Ontario.

What is his government going to do for the aerospace industry in Montreal? What is his government going to do for the artificial intelligence industry in Montreal, for culture, for the forestry and the aluminum sectors? What is his government going to do?

He had better have a good answer or we in the Bloc Québécois will remind him of that.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not just about Ontario and British Columbia, where I am from. It is from coast to coast to coast, all 10 provinces and three territories. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with workers and businesses in every Canadian province and territory to make sure we have a win-win situation. I would like to see the Bloc, the Conservatives, the NDP, the Greens and independents come together as team Canada so we can achieve this for each and every Canadian, irrespective of where they live and work.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, obviously, Canada and the United States have a long, mutually beneficial and important relationship, but it is very important to note that President-elect Trump has the right to make economic policy in the United States; he does not have the right to make economic policy in Canada. If he is going to pursue unfair policies like slapping a 25% tariff on probably his closest and most loyal ally and friend, Canada needs to respond accordingly.

All members will recall that during COVID, this country could not produce a domestic vaccine and had to rely on imports from China to supply health care workers with masks and gowns. We have become dangerously reliant on other countries, and this tariff situation provides an opportunity for Canada to become more self-reliant. Canada should offer incentives to Canadian businesses that create and repatriate jobs here, just as the Americans are doing in the United States, so we can build a strong, resilient Canadian economy.

Does my friend agree that this might be an opportunity for us to become stronger by creating global champions, Canadian champions, in Canada and by diversifying our trade to Europe and Asia? I ask because it is dangerous to rely on only one customer, as every business person ought to know.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I mentioned in my speech that we must prioritize the protection of Canadian industries and workers. This means providing targeted support to sectors most affected by these tariffs, whether through financial assistance, tax relief or measures to diversify export markets. Our goal should be to ensure that no Canadian loses their job because of another country's trade policies. I 100% agree with the hon. member there.

Over the last few years, this government has signed trade deals with more countries than any other government, and that is the way we should continue to achieve what the hon. member asked.

[The Deputy Speaker, Chris d'Entremont]

Before moving to the next speaker, because it might be the last time I get to speak this evening, I want to offer my great congratulations to Premier-elect Tim Houston for a phenomenal win in Nova Scotia. It was an interesting election night there.

The hon. member for Thornhill.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to split my time with the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle.

I will start by saying that the threats by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump come as a serious threat to Canada and to our prosperity. That is exactly why we are here tonight, but while this announcement is somewhat unprecedented and obviously worrying, it is not for a moment unexpected. Donald Trump did not appear out of nowhere. He was effectively running for president for four years, most of that time as a front-runner. He made tariffs and trade restrictions a central part of his platform and a central part of his campaign as a whole. The president-elect literally said, “Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented.” Those were his words, but last night's announcement revealed that the Prime Minister does not have a plan. He certainly does not have a Canada first plan for our economy or for our security.

However, let us look at how the government worked against Canada. It continued with its radical economic vandalism and its job-killing agenda. The Prime Minister continued to hike the carbon tax and raise capital gains taxes, adding piles of red tape on top of an already struggling business sector. He pushed forward with an agenda that doubled home prices. He doubled the national debt. Crime has doubled in this country. Our GDP per capita is smaller now than when the Prime Minister took office. In fact, it dropped more than any other G7 country since COVID.

We have the most indebted households and the worst housing inflation, and food prices have risen 37% faster here than in the U.S., while record numbers of Canadians now visit food banks. That is the Liberals' record. The Canadian economy now stands at record weakness, and we are already at a disadvantage. Businesses were already thinking about leaving, and now it is going to get even worse.

It is hard to see how anybody might think that we are starting from a negotiating position of strength, and speaking of negotiations, has anybody on that side of the House, anybody in the Prime Minister's office or anybody anywhere else thought to continue the relationships with the president-elect's team since 2020? Has anybody thought to build relationships with members of the U.S. House or the U.S. Senate, or with anybody of importance in Washington? We know that the Liberals say it, but it is quite clear that saying it does not make it reality, and could anybody read the writing on the wall to see what was coming?

I think we know the answers to all those questions, although the Liberals certainly act as though that is not the case, and it is clearer than ever that the Prime Minister has no plan. That is what we are demanding. He had no plan to anticipate the re-election of Donald Trump. He sat around for weeks until these tariffs were announced, and his big idea is a call tomorrow, a bunch of politicians sitting around a table for a photo op.

We need a Canada first plan. That is what the Leader of the Opposition reiterated. We needed it yesterday on the economy, on security, on the border and on so much else, but for good measure, let us start with the economy.

The Prime Minister has to now cancel the plan to quadruple the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre. It was a bad idea then. It is certainly a bad idea now that is going to tax everyone, so we are going to axe the tax on everyone, on everything, forever, and that is going to ensure our prosperity, or at least a stronger negotiating position with the U.S. These tax rises cost more for everything, including food, gas and energy, and combined with those tariffs from Donald Trump, or the threat of those tariffs, they will put our economy six feet under.

Additionally, the Prime Minister must revoke his plan to place the energy cap on natural resources industries, which would see our country produce 35% less. Natural resources are our biggest job creator and our biggest export. The U.S. wants what we have. Donald Trump says he wants to cut energy prices in half, and he can do that by importing clean Canadian energy.

Finally, the Prime Minister must cancel all of the tax increases on work, on investment and on making things here in Canada. They were a bad idea then, and they are certainly a bad idea now. His capital gains increases are going to drive businesses south. They are going to take thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars with them to the U.S.

These common-sense economic policies of axing the tax and scrapping the cap would not only save Canadian jobs; they would also help us in a negotiating position with the United States. They would help reverse the economic vandalism that we have seen after nine years of this Prime Minister, this Liberal-NDP government and the carnage they have caused in the Canadian economy.

It goes way past the economy. On immigration, the Prime Minister had already admitted he had broken a generational consensus on immigration, on the system. Every Canadian will tell us that too now. There are 4.9 million temporary visas and permits that have been issued, and they are to expire in December 2025, but yesterday, the immigration minister practically revealed that there is no plan to ensure that those who overstay their welcome actually go home.

The government let in two ISIS terrorists, a father and son duo, plotting an attack about 10 minutes from the riding that I represent. Another one was arrested near Montreal for planning an attack on a Jewish community in New York. The government utterly failed to properly screen the people coming in here. We need a Canada first approach to protect our security and our sovereignty, and to control those who are living in and those who are leaving our country. We need to protect Canadians, to keep our own country safe.

On top of that, a Canada first plan would put a stop to the out-of-control illegal drugs in this country. There are 47,000 Canadians who have died due to drug overdoses. This is higher than the number of people Canada lost in the Second World War. This number is staggering. There is a 200% increase in overdose deaths after just nine years of the Prime Minister, and it is thanks to his radical legalization of drugs and his policies that put continued addiction over hope and recovery. We have talked about it in the House so many times, and it is time for the Prime Minister to finally act on it.

Today, the police chief in the city of London, in Ontario, confirmed what we have been saying for years: The hard drugs of the Liberal-NDP unsafe supply programs are being diverted into our streets. Last year, the force seized 30,000 hydromorphone pills, most of them sourced directly from these programs. They are flooding into our streets, and they are also flooding across the border into the U.S. We know that. All we have to do is look outside.

We must put a stop to our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, our aunts and uncles falling victim to the poisonous plan the Prime Minister and the Liberal-NDP government are pushing. We must end the vast black market transnational trade of dangerous drugs that the Prime Minister has created. The Prime Minister can do that today by immediately announcing he will end his failed, radical, unsafe supply experiment to bring our loved ones home drug-free with detox treatment and wraparound services, and stop funding the drug smugglers and the transnational trade.

Everyone sees that the Prime Minister cannot negotiate. Everyone sees that the Prime Minister cannot keep his promises. Everyone sees that the Prime Minister has lost control, not only of his own caucus, of his own party, but of the entire country. The president-elect has opened the door to not implementing these tariffs: As long as we implement the ideas we spoke about tonight, then he implies that the tariffs will not be levied.

From there, we find a silver lining. It is because we can fix these issues. The Prime Minister can do that. He can stand up and tell Canadians. He can show up in this debate and tell Canadians he will axe the tax and finally lay out a plan to make sure those who overstay their welcome with their permits live up to their agreements and actually leave this country. He can tell Canadians he will immediately end his unsafe consumption, free drug bonanza. He can do all of those things. The only thing missing in all of this is the Prime Minister and his leadership. He has been here for nine years. He has had three presidents, and he has failed.

If we read Robert Lighthizer's book, which I am sure many of my colleagues will quote tonight, we will know that the Prime Minister's first approach with Donald Trump failed, and we cannot afford a second one. He can continue to stick his head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong. He can continue pushing jobs and money out of this country. The Prime Minister has a choice to make tonight. We as Canadians only hope he makes the right choice, to put Canada first. I know he will not do that, and that is why this country desperately needs an election.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, in the last nine years we have seen many trade agreements signed off on. In fact, no government in the history of Canada has signed off on as many trade agreements with other countries as this government. We have even had a trade agreement signed off with president-elect Trump previously. During the negotiations for that particular agreement, when it really came down and started to get difficult, we had the now leader of the Conservative Party say to capitulate, to just sign it, to get an agreement, because he was panicking.

At the time, we said, no, we are going to continue to get the best deal for Canadians. We continued the negotiations. Why should Canadians have any confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party when, the moment he started to panic, he was prepared to capitulate and give whatever it took to the United States?

Why should they have any trust or confidence in that leader?

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think the member opposite has a revisionist version of history. It was actually they who capitulated. In fact, does he know why Canadians would have confidence in Conservatives? Canadians would have confidence in Conservatives because 80 days after former prime minister Harper was elected, he got a deal on softwood lumber.

Does he know how much money is still sitting in Washington from illegally collected tariffs? It is $9 billion. That is the Prime Minister's record. We still have buy America. That member was not at the table, and thank goodness for Canada that he was not, but if we read the book of the chief negotiator, he will tell us everything that happened and why Canada got a bad deal. It will not happen again under the next prime minister of Canada, the member of Parliament for Carleton.

[Louis-Philippe Sauvé, Bloc, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to the member for Thornhill's remarks.

Both her speech and that of her leader featured rather strident but justified criticisms of the Liberal government on several fronts.

I would like to know how a Conservative government would do better than a Liberal government in trade talks with the United States.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member very well could have listened to the speech. We are going to have a Canada first approach that puts Canadians first and fixes everything that the Prime Minister has broken over the last nine years: the drugs flowing over the borders; the punishing taxes on Canadians, Canadian workers and Canadian investment; and the fact that our military is desperately underfunded when it has asked for a 2% commitment. That is what a Conservative government would do differently. Perhaps the member opposite has not been listening for the last number of months, but we have laid out a plan for the next Conservative majority government in this country, and Canadians cannot wait.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been clear from Donald Trump's intervention on this, in terms of the tariff, that it was drugs and crime coming from the Canadian border. The member for Carleton was part of the Harper administration and sat at the cabinet table. Even when I asked him earlier this evening, he still had no regrets about cutting 1,100 members loose who were doing intelligence office work, which was actually on the front lines and going to work with the United States law enforcement agencies.

There were sniffer dog teams that were cut under the Harper administration, with the member for Carleton at the cabinet table, and there were also frontline workers. This is not my opinion. This is the opinion of the workers from there, who have done that.

Why was axing the officers a good plan by the Conservative Party? What are they willing to do now to make those numbers up? They recently voted against the CBSA stocking back up on officers again.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right that we voted against stocking up the CBSA with more bureaucracy. There were actually more frontline officers under the Harper government than the member has told the House. If he wants to traffic in falsehoods and misinformation, that is his prerogative, but it has no place here. It probably has a place with his friends in the Liberal Party.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Speaker, I have no doubt that many Canadians are watching tonight's debate with a great deal of anxiety for the threat that is facing our country and our economy. Jobs, workers' paycheques and the ability for people to pay their mortgage depend on trade. Canada is a nation that depends on being able to sell what we grow and what we produce here to other countries around the world. We simply do not have the population to consume what we can produce. That is because we are so good at producing things. We are so good at extracting our natural resources at the highest environmental and ethical standards. Our skilled trades, machinists and factory workers are so good at what they do that we can produce far more than we need for ourselves.

Having an extremely long and undefended border, the longest undefended border in the world, being neighbours with a like-minded democracy that was built on the rule of law, human rights and, most importantly, free market capitalism where the voluntary exchange of goods and services, not just between individuals but between our countries, has dramatically increased the quality of life both here and in the United States to such a degree that people from around the world of all different faiths, races, ethnicities and cultures have come to Canada. They do not come to Canada for the weather. They come to Canada because of the opportunity and the basis of our society that we have built.

The reason why people are so anxious right now is because they have seen the track record of the Prime Minister in dealing with President-elect Trump. The first time the Prime Minister had to go toe to toe, head to head with President-elect Trump, he was forced to capitulate and accept concession after concession after concession; forced to accept concessions on agricultural products; forced to accept a deal that did not protect Canadian steelworkers from tariffs from the United States; forced to accept a deal that was silent, that did not offer any protection to forestry workers with a softwood lumber deal as part of it; and forced to accept the humiliating concession that the Prime Minister was unable to get an exemption from the buy American provisions.

After such a terrible track record the first time Canada faced tariffs from the U.S. administration, there is good reason to be worried right now. That is just on trade. One of the things that a country can do to protect itself in a potential trade conflict is to make our own economy strong. When investors and business owners are fighting with each other to get into Canadian markets, it is less likely that their home country would want to get in the way of that trade. What the Prime Minister has done is to put Canada in such an incredibly weak position. Our economy was weak yesterday before these potential tariffs were even announced, and now the Prime Minister is heading into a negotiation period in a position of extreme vulnerability.

Let us just take a look at some of the facts.

In Canada, the GDP per capita is now smaller than it was before the Prime Minister took office. That means the only thing that is even remotely keeping our GDP numbers in a positive trend is the fact that our population is growing, but each individual Canadian is poorer today and produces less value today because of the Prime Minister's terrible economic vandalism. Just look at some of the things that he has done. He has imposed a devastating carbon tax on the Canadian economy. The United States does not have a carbon tax. As he quadruples that carbon tax, the difference between our economy and the U.S. economy will be even larger. Why would an investor say they would like to build something in Windsor and pay 61¢ a litre when they can build that factory in Detroit and pay zero cents a litre for a carbon tax?

That is why it is so puzzling that the NDP member for Windsor West, who pretends to be worried about this issue, consistently supports the Liberal plan to hike, to quadruple, the carbon tax. How many more businesses and jobs, how much more money, will flow south of the border as that carbon tax gets higher?

Food prices have grown 37% faster in Canada than in the United States. That is because the Prime Minister devalued the Canadian dollar by forcing the Bank of Canada to print hundreds of billions of dollars to cover his deficits and wasteful spending. What happens when we print money out of thin air? We have more dollars chasing fewer goods and prices go up. Inflation has hit food prices here in Canada far worse than in the United States.

Our national debt has grown by over 100% in a decade. That means the government has to go out into markets to borrow money. That is an important fact as well, because when the government borrows money it competes with the private sector. When business owners, factory owners and entrepreneurs go out and borrow some money to start up a business, scale up a business, expand to a second location or add another product line, they have to go out and compete with the government to borrow that money. When the government gobbles up a lot of the available funds, it drives up the borrowing costs for everybody else, including individuals.

It is not just large business owners who have to pay higher borrowing costs when the government goes out and scoops up all the available cash for itself. Our mortgage payment is going to be higher because of all that government borrowing. If somebody has a dollar to lend, to lend it to an individual is a greater risk than to lend it to a government entity, which is viewed as having a much more secure backing, so they have to pay a premium to borrow that dollar too. The government's deficits directly have an impact on Canadian borrowers, which include business owners and individuals with mortgages.

Where I am going with all of this is that by weakening the Canadian economy, there are fewer people around the globe fighting to get into Canada. We only need to develop this thought exercise: Would Canada ever slap these kinds of tariffs unilaterally on the United States? Of course not, because it would risk our markets to sell our products into. Canada has a weaker economy, our people are poorer, and there are fewer opportunities here and fewer investments that can turn a profit, add to growth and create jobs, which means there are fewer people in the United States fighting to protect access to our markets. The Prime Minister's devastating and humiliating failure the first time he had to face President Trump is a big reason people are concerned today.

A couple of issues aside from economics have been the subject of debate. What I have heard many Canadians asking in the last 24 hours is this: Why did it take the president-elect of the United States to call out the government's inaction on dealing with the fentanyl and opioid crisis? The Prime Minister should want to get fentanyl off our streets for Canadians, out of concern for the grieving mothers, fathers, husbands and wives who have lost people to this horrible addiction.

We have presented comprehensive plans to help stem the tide of illegal drugs coming into Canada, with more inspections and better tools for law enforcement. The government not only ignores it but doubles down on its failed approach to make bail easier for those criminals. It even went so far as to use the tax dollars of Canadians to fund government-paid-for opioids, which the police say now show up in our communities all the time, all across the country.

At the border, we have had, in the last few months, under the Prime Minister, terrorists associated with al Qaeda and ISIS coming into Canada. It should not take a president of the United States to call attention to that. A Canadian prime minister should want to solve that problem on their own.

All that is to say it is quite clear that what this episode in the last few days has shown us is that we need a Prime Minister with the brains and the backbone to put Canada first. As the Leader of the Opposition said earlier this evening, Canada first, Canada always and Canada forever.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, the member was here when his leader spoke on this issue, and he talked about military spending. He was very critical of the government today for not hitting the 2% mark. Yet, the member who just spoke was a part of the Harper government. The leader of the Conservative Party was in the Harper government cabinet.

The lowest we have had in the last decade was, in fact, when the leader of the Conservative Party was in cabinet, in terms of percentage of the GDP. It actually fell below 1%. That amplifies one of the reasons we just cannot believe what the leader of the Conservative Party is telling Canadians. Listen to what he said in the House and contrast that to what he actually did. How can one believe him?

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Speaker, let us look at what we did. We got heavy lift aircraft delivered. We started the process on F-35s, something the Prime Minister then cancelled. He had to admit he had made a terrible mistake and restart the process. We just lost hundreds of millions of dollars and many years.

Nobody was questioning Canada's commitment to our allies and to NATO under the previous Conservative government. That all started when the Prime Minister started demeaning our military, cancelling procurement projects and basically telling the world that Canada was not going to do its fair share.

Conservatives have gotten big projects, big procurement items done. We had higher levels of recruitment and regular force service levels, something that has fallen under the Liberal government, as the Prime Minister tells our military their job is to fight for woke and divisive ideals instead of our proud history and our proud traditions.

[Louis-Philippe Sauvé, Bloc, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

Madam Speaker, I listened to the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle.

The Conservative solution to the foreign trade problem seems to be “Canada first”, in imitation of the “America first” slogan. They say we do not need the president-elect of the United States to tell us what to do about drugs. That suggests to me that Canada will have to do what the president-elect of the United States tells us to do. That suggests to me that we will have to sell our oil to the United States.

Is the Conservative Party's solution to the foreign trade problem to ape American policy and bow down to the United States? I really get the sense that that is what the Conservatives are suggesting.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case at all. It is normal for a government to put its own country's interests first. Canadian taxpayers pay for all the programs and all the ministers' salaries. Clearly, any country's government is going to put the interests of its citizens before anything else.

I think my colleague misunderstood what I said about the drugs and borders issue. I was not saying that we have to solve the problem because the American president-elect had pointed it out. I said that the Prime Minister himself should have an interest in fixing the problem relating to drugs and borders. That is the point I was making.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Speaker, Mr. Trump is apparently justifying this ridiculous assertion that Canada deserves 25% tariffs by talking about the border and also talking about Canada not hitting its defence targets. Last I checked, Canada determines, here in this chamber, and in this country, what our military spending is. It is not dictated by a foreign government.

I have a twofold question. The other thing I will mention first is that it is up to the Americans to control their border. If something is coming from Canada into the United States, that is a failure of the Americans to protect their border, not Canada.

My question for my hon. colleague is this: If we were to increase our military spending to 2% or even 3%, as certain Canadian business groups are calling for, how would he pay for it? How many billions of dollars would that mean to the Canadian budget? How would we pay for it? Does he not agree with me that it is up to the American government to protect its own borders? That is not our responsibility.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Speaker, first and foremost let me say that the Conservative Party has been unequivocal that these tariffs are unjustified.

My point on the border, on military spending and on the fentanyl crisis is that, regardless of what is going on with the United States, regardless of what President-elect Trump might be threatening Canada with, a Canadian prime minister should care about the lives of people lost to addiction, should care about the fact that we have people coming into our country without proper background checks and security vettings, and should care about the Canadian people wanting to see a plan to deal with 400 temporary residents in Canada whose visas are set to expire in the next year.

Regardless of what American politicians might want us to do, the Canadian people expect their government to put their interests and their safety first, and to protect their jobs. They expect their livelihoods and their security to be put ahead of all else.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my good friend, the member for Vancouver Granville.

There should be no doubt that the Government of Canada places the highest priority on strengthening our trading relations with the United States. For a place like Surrey Centre, this is in no way undiminished, as we are a border city and a port city. Trade is of vital importance. These are indeed unique relations that are tremendously and mutually beneficial to both our nations. Our partnership is not just forged by our shared geography. It is also shared by our similar values, common interests and strong personal connections, which include family connections.

Perhaps most relevant to the subject of our debate today is that our relations are based on deep and powerful economic ties. Millions of jobs depend upon trade and investment between Canada and the United States. We are each other's largest trading partners, with nearly 3.6 billion dollars' worth of goods and services crossing the border each day in 2023.

Our government has worked tirelessly to strengthen and secure the relationship by supporting and helping to ensure the safe flow of goods and people across the border. That is vital to both our countries' economic competitiveness and prosperity, which were key parts of our efforts in securing the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, CUSMA, which went into force in July 2020. This agreement is the anchor for our strong, balanced trading relationship with the United States and the foundation for this relationship is built on the resilience and effective supply chains that carry across all key sectors of the economy. As a result, today, we are each other's largest trade partners with, as I said, nearly 3.6 billion dollars' worth of goods and services crossing the borders each day.

Canada is particularly significant as a secure supplier of energy to the United States' domestic market. Last year, for example, 60% of U.S. crude oil imports originated from Canada. Canada and the U.S. also have a significant investment relationship. The U.S. is the single greatest investor into Canada. These trade and investment relationships support millions of jobs here in Canada. They also support millions of jobs in America. That is because today Canada buys more from the United States than China, Japan and Germany combined. Maintaining and expanding this flow of goods, of investment and of people across the border is absolutely vital for both our countries' economic prosperity.

By the same token, undermining the effectiveness of this relationship by imposing tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States would take us in the opposite direction. There should be no doubt that imposing a 25% tariff on all Canadian products would be harmful to U.S. consumers, U.S. workers and the U.S. economy as a whole. In fact, roughly 70% of Canadian goods exported to the United States are used in the production of other goods or, as they say, advanced manufacturing by U.S. manufacturers. This means that imports from Canada are effectively feeding the U.S. economy and U.S. industry with vital inputs, making it stronger and more competitive. It also means that putting a 25% tariff on these Canadian imports would impose a massive increase in the input costs on U.S. manufacturers.

The harm to American manufacturers would not stop there. That is because American tariffs on Canadian goods would open the door to retaliatory tariffs, and that is something we do not want to do. I have been across several states in the United States over the last nine years as a part of my parliamentary duties, especially during the renegotiations of CUSMA, working with the National Governors Association and the Western Governors' Association. I can assure members that 36 U.S. states currently still rely on Canada as their number one export market and over 40 states export more than 1 billion dollars' worth of goods per year into Canada.

Raising the costs of those goods would not just be bad for Canadian consumers. It would be really bad for American manufacturers and their consumers who depend on those sales. Our government does not want to go down that road. We know that efficient trade is the way to secure strong economies on both sides of the border. We know that because, since 1989, the North American free trade agreements have generated economic growth and rising standards of living for the people of all three member countries.

The entry into force of NAFTA in 1994 created the largest free trade region in the world, and by strengthening the rules and procedures governing trade investment in North America, the agreement has proven to be a solid foundation for building Canada's prosperity and has set a valuable example of the benefits of trade liberalization for the rest of the world. What did it mean for Canada? It meant that our total merchandise exports to the United States in 2018 reached $438 billion, representing a fourfold increase from the $101 billion in 1989 before this agreement. Such a dramatic expansion of Canadian exports to a single country is unprecedented, and NAFTA's most recent successor has made us even stronger.

We can see, in clear and unequivocal terms, how free and fair trade between Canada and the United States benefits both countries. We are communicating these points and signalling to the incoming administration our readiness to work together to advance our shared economic prosperity and security. In doing so, we will remain open to the perspectives of our American partners. In fact, we share many of those perspectives. We share U.S. concerns regarding unfair competition and global market distortions, including overcapacity caused by non-market policies and practices that harm our workers and businesses.

We can assure our American partners that Canada will not be a transshipment risk or a vector for trade practices that would harm our collective economic security. To take just one example, Canada imposed a 100% surtax in October on electric vehicles and a 25% surtax on steel and aluminum products from China. Canada is considering additional surtaxes on imports of batteries and battery parts, semiconductors, solar products and critical minerals from China.

We will always defend Canada's interests and do what is best for Canadians and the Canadian economy. We will always do so with the understanding that Canada and the U.S. have a unique relationship and partnership. This partnership works best, creating jobs, economic growth and shared prosperity on both sides of the border, when we work together in common purpose and understanding.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is important that we all stand together and make sure that we push back against the Trump tariffs.

The member comes from British Columbia, as I do. I believe he will recall the biggest failure in trade history in Canada, the infamous Harper softwood lumber sellout that took place 20 years ago. This was after a series of victories we had in trade tribunals and courts. We were just at the victory line, and then the Conservatives basically snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. As a result, we were forced to pay $1 billion, which legitimately would have come back to the softwood lumber industry in Canada. We also lost 100,000 jobs and 200 mills closed as a result of Harper's folly and the unbelievable and irresponsible approach to trade by the Conservatives.

I will ask my colleague if he thinks we can gain some lessons from the appalling sellout of our natural resources, our softwood communities and our workers.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Madam Speaker, I recall that very vividly. It was no small failure. Capitulating after winning victory after victory in the softwood lumber industry has set a very bad precedent since then. I commend our trade ministers for holding their feet to the Americans, winning case after case and not capitulating.

What the member said is no different from what Prime Minister Harper said when we were renegotiating NAFTA. He said we should take any trade deal the Americans give. The Conservative leader of the opposition at the time, Erin O'Toole, said not to put in countervailing tariffs. He was scared to put in any tariffs. However, it was due to those tariffs and strong negotiations that we were able to make an even stronger free trade deal with the United States.

[Louis-Philippe Sauvé, Bloc, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

Madam Speaker, I have been listening to the debate for two or three hours now. The parties are firing shots at one another, such as “we would do better” or “we are the best”. We are hearing about the grievances of Ontario and Alberta.

The fact is, the U.S. president-elect posted a message on his social media platform. As a result, we are having this emergency debate. Americans watching from Washington are going to say that the Canadians are losing their minds and are afraid. Personally, I think the Americans have far more to lose by not trading with us than the other way around.

I would like to ask my esteemed colleague, without disparaging the debate we are having this evening, whether we should calm down a bit, negotiate responsibly and not overreact to the president-elect's bullying.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Madam Speaker, that is the approach the government has been taking. The Prime Minister is meeting with all the premiers of the country to find a proper strategy. My speech did not actually target anybody from the opposition in that regard. I answered a question just before from my colleague as to the approach that the Conservative Party took versus the Liberal government of this tenure.

We need an all-Canada approach. Canada should not freak out; the member is absolutely right. I think the U.S. has more to lose. However, this emergency debate demonstrates that we need a team Canada approach. We need to talk to all the provinces, all the territories and all members of Parliament.

There were some great opposition members at that time who helped. I recall Rona Ambrose helped with the team Canada approach, even though she was from the Conservative Party. She was tasked with it. Brian Mulroney, another great leader of the Conservative Party, jumped in. They acted not in a manner that was detrimental to Canada but in a manner that was supportive. I think those days of Conservative leadership are long gone. The new leadership is more about themselves, as we have seen with other matters.

I thank the member and their party for continuing to show the support for Canada to be strong in this. The Americans would have to capitulate to their own tariffs at the end of the day.