Canadian Manufacturers Welcome CUSMA Implementation

Manufacturers call for a Made-in-Canada promotion campaign, further leveraging of government procurement and infrastructure spending, and a national manufacturing strategy.

OTTAWA, (July 1, 2020) — Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) congratulates Canada, the United States and Mexico for today implementing the Canada, United States, Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).  “The manufacturing sector is the cornerstone of the North American economic relationship and the reason this trade agreement is so critical. CME worked closely with the government throughout the negotiation process to ensure the integrated manufacturing sector would remain unharmed and strengthened where possible. We believe CUSMA has accomplished this objective,” said Dennis Darby, President & CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. “This agreement renews and enhances our most important trading relationship with the United States and Mexico.”

Manufacturing directly accounts for roughly 11 percent of Canada’s GDP and over 1.7 million Canadians are employed in the sector. Nearly two-thirds of Canada’s exports are manufactured goods and more than 80 percent of these exports go to our CUSMA partners.

Stated Darby, “CME looks forward to collaborate with decision-makers and businesses to ensure the seamless implementation of this new agreement and to maximize the benefits of it for the Canadian economy.”  Specifically, CME will work with the government to:

• Stand-up all committees related to joint economic cooperation, especially those on industrial competitiveness, regulatory harmonization, and SME export growth.
• Develop a joint strategy with the US on the manufacture and supply of critical PPE and other goods identified for security purposes that protects and grows integrated supply chains. This approach has been successfully implemented for decades in defense procurement and could be expanded to pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
• Leverage the CUSMA competitiveness chapter to develop a joint strategy on dealing with competing jurisdictions who abuse international trade rules to protect our shared market from dumping, currency manipulation, IP theft, and other aggressive actions.