International Trade committee  I would encourage the committee to actually take a closer look at what some of the supposed barriers are, going into both Japan and Korea, because I think some of the information that's often relayed is based on outdated information in terms of access to those countries. We certa

International Trade committee  Sure.

International Trade committee  I think Canada has some real competitive advantages in the whole area of the factors that lead into an automated vehicle. When we think about artificial intelligence, we have world-leading scientists in Canada on artificial intelligence. We have a lot of companies, again, that

International Trade committee  I don't have an indication of that. I could probably determine that by consulting with our members, to figure out, if they did have the opportunity to export down there, which ones might be the ideal candidates.

International Trade committee  To my knowledge, no.

International Trade committee  Yes, and I think some other witnesses have noted that at the peak, it was only about 20,000 units or so going into the whole Mercosur area. If you're looking at what some of the inhibitors are, certainly, the tariffs would be the major issue in terms of exporting vehicles down th

International Trade committee  The non-tariff barriers, I think, are significant going into those countries. Those would need to be addressed in a free trade agreement as well. If I could just chime in on welcoming the students as well, the Global Automakers of Canada is a supporter, a sponsor of the Forum f

International Trade committee  Right now, from a manufacturer's perspective, I think other witnesses have highlighted the fact that Canada is a fairly high-cost jurisdiction for producing vehicles in this country. That being the case, one way of addressing a high-cost structure is to become more productive and

International Trade committee  If there weren't automakers there, we could increase our exports?

International Trade committee  Yes, I think that would certainly be more of an opportunity for Canada, for sure, if existing automakers weren't there. Having said that, every production facility doesn't make a range of vehicles. Each one might make one or two models, so there's always an opportunity to export

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. I, unfortunately, can't speak directly to that issue. I don't represent parts makers in Canada. I would encourage the committee to bring the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association before the committee to discuss these topics. Obviously the impo

International Trade committee  I'll try to be very quick. It's been certainly a different negotiation, and some would say it's not been a real negotiation at all. As you mentioned, we are running into, I think, the short strokes of getting an agreement finalized. We do have the constraints of the Mexican ele

International Trade committee  I would concur with that. For our membership, the CPTPP agreement is very important in levelling the playing field for all our member companies, and indeed the whole automotive industry, by gradually putting all manufacturers and importers on a pathway toward zero tariffs comin

International Trade committee  I've looked at some of the testimony. I think other witnesses have maybe touched on some of the barriers that do exist. All I would say to that is that I think that is part and parcel of any negotiation: to recognize that you're not only talking about tariffs, but you're talking

International Trade committee  I would characterize it personally as somewhat niche, for automobiles anyway. I think for automotive parts it's probably a different story. As I mentioned in my remarks, some of the advanced technologies that will be built into the vehicles of the coming decades are probably more