Appearing before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on International Trade regarding Bill C-4 – An Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States – the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) called for the Agreement to be unanimously endorsed by the Committee and ratified by the House of Commons as soon as possible.

“Total trade with the US is over 1 trillion dollars, with our second largest trading partner, the EU, being a distant second. Trucking moves close to 70 percent of this trade with the U. Ratification of CUSMA is of critical importance to our sector,” said CTA’s Director of Policy Lak Shoan.

CTA highlighted in its submission the key sectors of the economy that rely on CUSMA along with key states that dominate the trade figures under CUSMA. CTA also reminded the committee of some key issues directly related to CTA members as a result of the CUSMA agreement.

CTA’s initial analysis of certain sections of the agreement identified some potential changes related to how goods cross the border. Once ratified, CTA looks forward to working with the government on the following potential items identified under the CUSMA agreement:

(i) Potential revisions to the temporary admission of goods as it relates to movements in-transit;

(ii) Changes to promote trade facilitation through electronic submissions and reduce paper processes;

(iii) Enshrining that each country shall establish a single window or maintain a single window system that enables the electronic submission through a single-entry point of documents and data;

(vi) Potential changes to the administration of customs penalties, and how they are imposed, including the treatment of “clerical” or “minor” errors;

(v) Facilitating trade through programs designed to improve the movement of goods through ports of entry, including if feasible, alignment of hours of service, joint customs inspections and shared facilities;

“Canadian businesses and all levels of government must remain vigilant from a policy and investment standpoint to ensure our border is both secure and efficient to move CUSMA trade,” said Shoan. “The Government of Canada should be applauded for reaching this deal and continually showing an investment commitment in recent budgets to make our border work from both a safety and trade perspective,” added Shoan. “This investment must continue to address physical infrastructure, IT systems, staffing, and policy developments at the border to allow compliant and secure trucking companies to carry our trade with the US in the most efficient and secure manner.”