Manufacturers applaud Canadian government efforts to finalize CUSMA

Call for quick ratification

OTTAWA, (December 10, 2019) — Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) congratulates the Canadian Government and negotiators for their efforts in securing the passage of the Canada-United States-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA) with Canada’s closest and most critical trading partners. Now that the United States Congress has signaled its intention to ratify the agreement, Canada should immediately begin our ratification process.

Dennis Darby, President & CEO stated, “on behalf of all manufacturers across the country, we applaud the efforts of the Canadian negotiating team who worked tirelessly over the past several years to secure this deal and preserve integrated manufacturing supply chains. Moving forward with ratification of this agreement will renew and enhance our trading relationship with the United States and Mexico. ”

“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 to ensure the integrated manufacturing sector would remain unharmed and strengthened where possible. We believe CUSMA has accomplished this objective. We now urge Canada, the United States, and Mexico to begin work on enhancing North American competitiveness and good regulatory practices, as outlined in the new agreement, by establishing committees in each area to promote economic growth and regulatory cooperation,” noted Darby.

“However, if we want Canada to take full advantage of this agreement, the government must take steps to insure Canadian manufacturers’ productivity levels are equivalent to that of other OECD countries’ so they can succeed on North American markets and, globally,” added Darby. “We will also work with the government to better understand the potential impacts of concessions made with regards to aluminum trade .”

Manufacturing directly accounts for roughly 11 percent of Canada’s GDP and over 1.7 million Canadian 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 NAFTA partners. Much of this trade is due to the deep integration of manufacturing operations across the NAFTA region and in particular between Canada and the US. This integration has created a unique relationship for our countries; we do not simply trade goods with each other, we build things together, we innovate together, we compete against the rest of the world together.

ABOUT CME

Since 1871, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters has been helping manufacturers grow at home and, compete around the world. Our focus is to ensure manufacturers are recognized as engines for growth in the economy, with Canada acknowledged as both a global leader and innovator in advanced manufacturing and a global leader in exporting. CME is a member-driven association that directly represents more than 2,500 leading companies who account for an estimated 82 per cent of manufacturing output and 90 per cent of Canada’s exports.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Stefi Proulx
Director of Communications
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters
C:  613-292-6070 | stefi.proulx@cme-mec.ca | @CME_MEC