CIIT meeting 17 · 2025-12-01 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The House of Commons International Trade Committee met to study the 2026 review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Witnesses were Martin Gendreau, Co-President of Garaga; Kurt Niquidet, President of the BC Lumber Trade Council; Daniel Tisch, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce; Michael Worry, CEO of Nuvation Energy; and Joslyn Young, CEO of the Surrey and White Rock Board of Trade.

Martin Gendreau said his garage-door company faces 50% U.S. tariffs on Canadian-made doors while U.S. imports to Canada face only 25% tariffs, forcing a $20-million investment to shift 30% of Canadian production to a Minnesota plant. He asked for reciprocal 50% tariffs on U.S. garage doors entering Canada, anti-dumping measures against Asian products that he said use unregulated insulation and are sold below raw-material cost, and clarity on the HS codes for the government's newly announced steel-derivative tariffs. He also warned that losing temporary foreign workers will reduce production capacity, and said the government needs a clear strategy to support the domestic steel industry.

Kurt Niquidet said Canadian softwood-lumber producers have paid over $10 billion in unjustified duties since 2017, and that European imports facing no duties have displaced Canadian lumber in the U.S. market. He recommended that Canada pursue a durable negotiated settlement to the softwood-lumber dispute, either within the CUSMA process or alongside it, and that the 2026 review strengthen Chapter 10's binational panel system by securing enforceable timelines for panel appointments, noting one challenge filed in 2017 did not reach a hearing until 2023.

Daniel Tisch said CUSMA is a lifeline for Ontario businesses, and that 94% of North American manufacturers rely on it, but only 33% of Ontario businesses are confident the review will succeed on acceptable terms. He recommended an "extend and refresh" approach rather than a comprehensive rewrite, ending sectoral tariffs, and having the federal government match Ontario's 15% manufacturing investment tax credit to create a combined 30% incentive. He noted that only 4% of surveyed businesses would consider relocating to the U.S., and that businesses need government help to de-risk international diversification.

Michael Worry said his company makes battery management systems for energy storage, and that foreign state-backed competitors export control electronics at artificially deflated prices that no Canadian manufacturer can match, while tariff uncertainty makes it hard to win U.S. contracts. He warned that compromised control electronics can allow a foreign actor to harvest data, disconnect equipment from the grid, or trigger a lithium battery fire, and that a planned national east-west grid risks embedding those vulnerabilities. He recommended a mandatory national security review for public procurements of grid-connected electronics, distinguishing high-risk from low-risk components, improving point-of-origin definitions so adversarial suppliers cannot hide behind final assembly, and auditing existing installations.

Joslyn Young said Surrey anchors a key logistics corridor and that 64% of businesses in her region report cross-border uncertainty as a major concern, with many delaying investments or considering relocation. She recommended a stable, tariff-free North American marketplace, modernizing CUSMA Chapter 16 to expand the list of eligible professional occupations to include modern sectors like tech and finance, and strengthening protections for women, gender-diverse groups and Indigenous peoples. She noted that businesses are solving problems themselves, such as splitting customer bases with U.S. counterparts, while waiting for government to act.

The committee also heard from members of Parliament who questioned witnesses on their specific recommendations, including the need for reciprocal tariffs, the impact of Asian dumping, the importance of enforceable dispute-settlement timelines, and the security risks of foreign control electronics in energy storage. No procedural debate, motions or votes occurred during this meeting.

AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.

Witnesses · 5

Martin Gendreau

Co-President, Garaga

Opening remarks

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you very much for the invitation to appear before you today. My name is Martin Gendreau. I am the co-president of Garaga and co-owner of the Novatech Group. Both Canadian companies manufacture garage doors, thermal entrance doors, decorative glass and patio doors. Our family-owned business employs over 3,200 people in Canada and the U.S. We are heavily involved in Canada’s supply chains and purchase almost all our steel in Hamilton, Ontario. Garaga and Novatech have roots in Quebec and take pride in creating jobs in the regions and investing in our communities through our foundation. We are facing four challenges, which I would like to discuss with the committee today. The first challenge is the issue of U.S. tariffs on steel. Canadian garage doors are subject to 50% tariffs on steel, while U.S. products coming into Canada are subject to only 25% tariffs. As a result, 30% of our Canadian production of garage doors is at risk because doors are manufactured locally in Canada and then exported to the U.S. Since the beginning of the year, we have had to invest over $20 million in our plant in Minnesota so that our sales in the U.S. market are…

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Kurt Niquidet

President, BC Lumber Trade Council

Opening remarks

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. I am Kurt Niquidet, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council, representing the majority of BC lumber producers. Our sector accounts for about 40% of softwood lumber exports to the United States and supports roughly 100,000 jobs, contributing about $6 billion annually to government revenues. As you prepare for the 2026 CUSMA joint review, I want to highlight two priorities that are essential for securing fair and stable trade for our industry and for North American competitiveness. Firstly, pursue a durable resolution to the softwood lumber dispute. Since 2017, Canadian producers have paid more than $10 billion in unjustified duties. These costs burden Canadian companies and workers and raise housing input costs for U.S. consumers. At the same time, European imports facing no duties have displaced Canadian lumber in the U.S. market. Softwood lumber is a strategic input for North American housing, supply chains and economic resilience. Canada must pursue a durable settlement to the lumber V dispute, either within the CUSMA process or alongside it. Secondly, we need to strengthen the CUSMA binational panel system. The chapter 10…

Daniel Tisch

President and Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Opening remarks

Thank you very much, Madam Chair and honourable members. Thanks for the opportunity to appear before you today. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce represents 60,000 businesses of every size in every sector and community in Ontario. It's a real privilege to be part of this meeting today. Trade agreements, of course, are more than legal texts. They create the economic playing field for the businesses and communities of a trading nation. They provide clear and predictable rules of the game for businesses on all sides of the borders of this continent. When they work, they create jobs, they attract investment and they keep our supply chains resilient, and when they falter, as we're seeing today, there's uncertainty that stops businesses from hiring, from investing and from growing. For us, the CUSMA review is not just a review; it's a test of whether North American economic integration, as it stands, can survive a White House whose policies are likely to push trade away from this continent. The very idea of the trade agreement is under threat, so we have to reaffirm a simple truth: that trade agreements are written for businesses, not for governments. Having spoken regularly to the…

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