Committee Appearances - 2024
Opening remarks for the Study of the 2026 CUSMA Review
June 6th, 2024
The United States is Canada's largest agricultural trading partner by far, buying 59.2 percent of Canadian exports and supplying 57.0 percent of Canadian imports. Canada is the leading agricultural trade partner of the United States when exports and imports are combined.
Canada ranks among Mexico’s agri-food suppliers, with Mexican agri-food imports from Canada reached $2.9 billion in 2022. Mexico’s large population, growing middle class, geographic proximity and political stability make it an important market for CAFTA exporters.
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The deep integration between the Canadian and US agricultural sectors is largely a question of proximity, but trade agreements and a deep, positive relationship with our American friends and allies are also vital. The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement of 1989, followed by NAFTA in 1994, then CUSMA in 2020, have dismantled most tariff and quota barriers to Canada-U.S. agricultural trade.
CAFTA Opening remarks for the Study of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy
May 27th, 2024:
CAFTA members have established the following priorities for our work:
1) To open new markets for Canadian agri-food. This includes prioritizing trade liberalization discussions with growing emerging markets in the Indo-Pacific like Indonesia and ASEAN countries.
2) To uphold the international rules-based trading system. A delegation of CAFTA members attended the WTO’s recent Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi. We witnessed firsthand the challenges the system is facing, and we support Canada’s efforts through the Ottawa group to advance key priorities at the WTO.
3) To strengthen trade diplomacy capacity and Industry-Government collaboration. We welcomed the opening of the Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office in Manilla, and CAFTA is co-chairing the Industry Working Group that is ensuring alignment between government and stakeholders.
CAFTA Opening Remarks for the Study of Canadian Businesses in Supply Chains and Global Markets.
May 2nd, 2024:
The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) is a coalition of national organizations advocating for a freer and fairer international trade environment for the agriculture and agri-food sector.
CAFTA's members include farmers, ranchers, processors, producers and exporters from major trade sectors such as beef, pork, grains, oilseeds, sugar, pulses, and soy.
As I said, CAFTA works for a fair and open international trade environment. This is in our country’s economic interest, and in our national security interest of making an important contribution to international peace and stability.
March 18th, 2024: The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) is a coalition of national organizations that support a more open and fair international trading environment for agriculture and agri-food. CAFTA represents the 90% of farmers who depend on trade and ranchers, producers, processors, and agri-food exporters who want to grow the economy through better access to international markets. This includes the beef, pork, meat, grains, cereals, pulses, soybeans, canola as well as the sugar and processed food industries. The sectors CAFTA represents support over a million jobs in urban and rural communities across Canada.
Committee Appearances - 2023
November 21st, 2023: On November 6, CAFTA’s Executive Director, Michael Harvey gave opening remarks to the House Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE) on the Study of the Situation at the Russia-Ukraine Border and Implications for Peace and Security.
Committee Appearances - 2022
November 29th, 2022: I'm pleased to be here to share preliminary views on behalf of Canada's agri-food exporters on how the American Inflation Reduction Act—or IRA—may impact our sector and what we believe Canada's response should be.
November 21, 2022: On behalf of the Canadian Agri-food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), we are pleased to submit the following information to the AGRI Committee as it continues to look at issues related to global food insecurity. We believe that access to food should know no boundaries and that trade policy rooted in free and open trade is one of the best ways to ensure food remains plentiful around the world.
October 26, 2022: Thank-you for the invitation to present to you today.
My name is Claire Citeau, and I am the Executive Director of the Canadian Agri-food Trade Alliance or CAFTA, the voice of Canadian agri-food exporters.
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Access to food should know no boundaries.
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Given that our mandate is focused on trade liberalization, I will speak to the matter of global food security and Canada’s role from a trade policy perspective.
May 9th, 2022: Thank you for the opportunity to speak about ways for Canada to maximize opportunities throughout the Indo-Pacific.
CAFTA is the voice of Canadian agri-food exporters, representing the 90% of farmers in Canada who depend on trade and those growing the economy through better access to markets: beef, pork, wheat, grains, oilseeds, canola, sugar, malt, pulses and process foods.
Committee Appearances - 2021
March 17th, 2021: Despite clear evidence that trade has contributed to unprecedented prosperity and development, respect for the rules and the institutions that govern it has severely eroded, paving the way for further disruption and trade-distorting policies. The 25 year old World Trade Organization (WTO) is facing its deepest crisis with unprecedented challenges that cut across the three major functions of the organization, notably the dispute settlement mechanism, the monitoring and transparency function as well as the negotiations and rule-making function.