Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks for the question. It's a big one.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll come to the Canadian part in a moment, but my answer to the hypothesis of China turning to soft power and the United States turning to hard power is that it's too early to say. That would be my gentle push-back. I think that going back to my remarks on what “America first” means, we don't really know how much hard power versus soft power the U.S. is going to use, because they haven't filled out what “America first” means.

Foreign Affairs committee  Let me say that we are tracking it very closely. I'll unpack a bit of what you just said. The Mexican electoral calendar is the following. The actual election is in July 2018, but the informal electioneering has already begun, as you noted. There are various theories as to what the key issues will be.

Foreign Affairs committee  Chair, I'll try to go very quickly. Of course, we'll send the information you requested. Different statistics get batted around. It depends on whether you're talking about exports of goods alone, or goods and services, but we'll provide you with those statistics going back some time.

Foreign Affairs committee  As you've said, it is still early days and very challenging to know where much of this will come out. If you look at how policy positions have evolved from January 20 until now, and frankly, if you look at the President's willingness to roll back previous positions, it's very hard to say where the U.S. will come out on some of those key funding issues.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. You mentioned my past at CIDA, where I was in charge of bilateral development assistance. A couple of things have happened since then. The first was the amalgamation of CIDA and DFAIT into Global Affairs. Most of that programming still happens in the same way it did under CIDA, and we still have a major program in Ukraine.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks very much. I'll do the first one, and Martin can do the second. We think that regulatory co-operation and borders in general, pre-clearance being part of the borders issue, are two areas with considerable promise of collaboration with the Trump administration. The Trump administration has come out as wishing to deregulate in a “two for one” sense, so it won't be all straightforward, but Minister Brison met with Mr.

Foreign Affairs committee  Sure. I'm joined today by my colleagues Martin Moen, the director general for North America and investment at Global Affairs Canada, and by Heidi Hulan, the director general of the international security policy bureau. I'll make the opening statement touching on many of the issues that I think you are looking at.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hello, everyone. We really appreciate this invitation to appear before the committee as you begin this timely and important study. The U.S. relationship is obviously critical for Canada. On the economic side, trade in goods and services with the U.S. is equal to 44% of Canadian GDP.

International Trade committee  I actually don't know the historical figures. Ninety per cent strikes me as high, but for as long as I've been active, there's no question that there have been efforts to, as has been said, diversify our trading partners. As just a smart strategy, one diversifies one's portfolio.

International Trade committee  The summit happens not every year but most years, or it has happened most years, or every year or two, for the past decade or more. It's colloquially known as the “three amigos” summit. The last time it took place was in February 2014 when the Mexican president, President Pena Nieto, hosted in his hometown in Mexico.

International Trade committee  I have no new information, but the Ambassador Bridge actually carries staggering statistics, which I cited in my introductory remarks. Twenty-five per cent of that merchandise trade takes place within the Windsor-Detroit corridor, so obviously a lot of that is autos. It would be hard to overstate the importance of those links as a lifeline for the North American economy.

International Trade committee  Thank you. I'm actually not aware of the economic relationship having diminished. It certainly dipped after the financial crisis of 2008. Economic activity overall slowed down. My recollection is that the figure I cited for 2014 merchandise exports, so not even including our trade and services, was about par for the course and higher than it's been in recent years.

International Trade committee  Our chief economist, who specializes in the strength of the Canadian dollar, is also here. Let me just say that obviously in some sectors of the Canadian economy a cheaper dollar is very beneficial. It should also lead, over time, to greater inward investment into Canada. André can speak to the issues around why the dollar is at the strength it is right now, but in terms of Canada-U.S., historically a weaker Canadian dollar has led—not across the board but in certain critical sectors—to increased exports as well as to making inward investment into Canada more attractive to investors from the United States.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. I once asked....