International Trade

The House of Commons International Trade Committee met to study Canada-Japan trade relations, hearing from representatives of the forest products, pork, and canola industries.

Kurt Niquidet of the BC Council of Forest Industries said Japan is a premium but stagnant market for B.C. forest products, where Canadian suppliers hold roughly 65% of the two-by-four housing market but face rising competition from Europe and domestic supply. He stressed that diversification cannot replace stable access to the United States, which still takes 75% of B.C.'s lumber exports, and called for sustained funding for the Canada Wood program, investment in technical engagement and standards alignment, recognition of forestry in Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy, and continued coordinated trade engagement.

René Roy and Stephen Heckbert of the Canadian Pork Council described Japan as a strategic partner and Canada's second-largest pork export market by value, with nearly half of all fresh pork imported into Japan coming from Canada. They urged the committee to work with ports to find long-term solutions to labour challenges, noting that a recent port strike cost the pork industry alone about $10 million over seven to ten days, and emphasized the importance of domestic processing capacity to turn raw commodities into value-added products for the Japanese market.

Chris Davison of the Canola Council of Canada highlighted that Japan is a consistent top-five customer for Canadian canola, accounting for $1.3 billion in exports in 2025, supported by a 50-year-old bilateral consultative mechanism. He noted that while other markets stepped up when China imposed tariffs on canola, the total volume and value of Canada's top two markets cannot be replaced collectively, and he pointed to rail availability and performance as ongoing challenges to reliable supply.

In response to member questions, Niquidet said the forest sector now feels the federal government has made it a priority in U.S. negotiations after earlier concerns, and that a long-term softwood lumber agreement is the preferred solution over loans. Roy and Heckbert said there are still opportunities to grow pork exports to Japan, particularly as U.S. reliability erodes, but they face competition from Brazilian frozen pork. Davison confirmed that Japan has never threatened tariffs on canola and is a reliable partner, while acknowledging that his industry can sometimes be "collateral damage" in disputes between other countries and would welcome more advance information from the government about potential threats.