The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement will support jobs and economic growth in South Western Ontario

From: Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

News release

November 2, 2018 – London, Ontario – Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a modernized North American free trade agreement that is good for Canada and good for Canadians. It is the result of Canada’s resolve at the negotiation table and our focus on getting the job done.

To promote the benefits and opportunities of the USMCA, the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, delivered a speech at the Canadian Club of London where she stressed the importance of the USMCA in providing stability and predictability in trade with our largest market, and in supporting continued prosperity for Ontario.

The announcement of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was an important step forward for North American trade, reinforcing strong economic ties between the three countries, reaffirming certainty in our longstanding trade relationship, and fostering good, well-paying jobs for Canadians.

Canada is the only G7 country to have trade agreements with all G7 countries. When implemented, the USMCA will help Canadians continue to compete globally and prosper in a healthy, integrated North American economy.

The Government of Canada will continue to engage with our North American partners to finalize the details of an agreement that benefits all Canadians.

Quotes

“Our government believes in Ontarians and in Canadians. We believe in what this country has to offer, and its competitiveness on the world stage. That’s why we fought not just for any deal, but for a strong one – for London, for Ontario, and for Canada. That’s exactly what we got with the USMCA.”

The Honourable Bardish Chagger, P.C., M.P., Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

“The USMCA is good for Canada’s economy, and good for Canada’s middle class workers and families. It addresses modern-day trade issues and supports prosperity for Canadians by ensuring that our businesses, entrepreneurs, workers, ranchers, farmers and fishers continue to have preferential access to our largest market.”

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs

Quick facts

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) reinforces our important commercial relationship with our North American partners and provides important stability and predictability for Ontario businesses and workers.
For Ontario, USMCA means continued market access security for $179.2 billion in exports to the U.S. and stability for workers that rely on well-paying, export-dependent jobs, including in the auto sector as well as the auto parts, plastic, tire and processed-food industries.
The strengthened USMCA rules of origin for automobiles and auto parts will create opportunities for Canadian parts producers in Ontario to increase sales to North American automakers
This agreement is good news for the thousands of farmers in Ontario, who together export $11.8 billion to the U.S. market.
New market access opportunities will be available to Ontario exporters in the areas of refined sugar and sugar-containing products, as well as margarine.
For supply-managed sectors, the agreement provides for incremental market access for the U.S. into Canada, but importantly maintains the three pillars of the supply management system: production controls; price controls, and, import controls. To mitigate the impact of changes under USMCA, the Government is working with industry, including through the establishment of working groups, to mitigate the impact of any loss of market share.
The globally competitive regional market created under the original NAFTA in 1994 today accounts for nearly 486 million consumers and a combined GDP of more than US$22 trillion.
In 2017, trilateral trade reached nearly USD $1.1 trillion – a more than three-fold increase since 1993.
The United States and Mexico are, respectively, Canada’s first- and third-largest merchandise trading partners in the world.
Canada is respectively the second- and fifth-largest merchandise trading partner of the United States and Mexico, and the largest export market for the United States.
Canada and the United States share the world’s longest secure border, over which approximately 400,000 people, and goods and services worth $2.4 billion, cross daily.
Canada and the United States share one of the largest trading relationships in the world. Canada is the largest market for the United States–larger than China, Japan and the United Kingdom combined.
To reach this renewed trilateral trade understanding, the Prime Minister, Ministers, Parliamentarians, federal officials, Premiers, and industry representatives directly engaged political and business leaders in the United States to advocate on behalf of Canadians.
Since January 2016, “Team Canada” visited the United States more than 300 times, and made more than 500 individual contacts with American officials, including the President, the Vice-President, 16 United States Cabinet members, more than 310 members of Congress, and 60 governors and lieutenant governors.
To help guide negotiations, the Government of Canada consulted with Canadians from across the country and from all sectors and backgrounds about trade. Consultations included meetings with the provinces and territories, industry, unions, civil society, think tanks, academics, Indigenous peoples, women, youth, and the general public.

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Date modified:: 2018-11-02