International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. My name is Joy Nott, and I'm the president of I.E.Canada, the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters. With me today is Carol Osmond, our vice-president of policy. We'd like to thank you for the opportunity to

International Trade committee  Okay. Relative to the Americans and the Panama situation, I was very recently in Detroit at a U.S. district council meeting, with approximately 500 U.S. companies in attendance. Secretary Locke was there, and he made some comments relative to various free trade agreements and

International Trade committee  That's correct.

International Trade committee  Yes. It is being addressed by the Americans.

International Trade committee  I guess I should first preface my answer by saying that I am in no way, shape, or form a tax expert. I need to say that up front. The free trade zone I made reference to, as far as my understanding goes, is a free trade zone from a manufacturing standpoint. I am not personally

International Trade committee  Let me start off by saying that I, personally, am not an income tax expert. As an association, we advocate on behalf of our members with respect to international trade topics that are more in line with the actual trading of commodities and services as opposed to income tax. I d

International Trade committee  The kinds of services that we're talking about are a little more tangible than maybe actual financial support. I'm not going to comment one way or another on whether the financial support is what's needed. The SMEs that are in that room are looking not so much at the financial su

International Trade committee  I personally sit on the DFAIT SME advisory panel. We meet twice a year as a group of companies. I.E.Canada is a participant observer on that particular panel. In the room are SMEs that discuss exactly that amongst themselves, and on the second day--it's a two-day meeting--the Min

International Trade committee  I guess my only answer to that would have to go along the lines of comments made earlier by Ms. Hall Findlay, in that I would assume yes, given the fact that the Panamanians have sat down to negotiate this. On behalf of our association, we believe, again, that they're adults. The

International Trade committee  I spoke earlier about the fact that Canadian importers today are, for the most part, also Canadian exporters. I've been in this business 28 years. There was a point in time when you could clearly distinguish between an importer and an exporter. Those days are gone. Companies are

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee, for giving us the opportunity to present today. My name is Joy Nott. I am the president and CEO of I.E.Canada, otherwise known as the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters. We've been around for about 80 years. Our me

International Trade committee  Speaking on behalf of the Canadian importers and exporters association, I think it would be a negative if the talks did not continue. Southeast Asia is a varied region. There are all types of different countries, all at different stages of development and sophistication in intern

International Trade committee  The point I was trying to make overall is that we've heard here about strategy concerning physical infrastructure, whether it be trucking terminals or rail lines or whatever else, but the point I'm bringing to the table is to have a strategy around the policy and regulatory envir

International Trade committee  Traditionally, when we started 80 years ago, we were the Canadian importers association. In 2000 we changed our name to add the word “exporters”, and that was more than just a marketing ploy. We realize that compared with 1932 when we were founded and when importing was a discret

International Trade committee  What I'm saying is that when Canada starts to negotiate with more underdeveloped economies, the companies within those countries and their traders—I wouldn't say they're unsophisticated; I wouldn't be so unkind or impolite—in Japan, however, they are very good at what they do. Lo