Can I Sign New York Banking Agreement

Can i industry sign banking new york agreement

hello everyone and welcome my name is chelsea luciani i'm a senior manager with the trade policy and negotiations branch in the bc ministry of jobs economic development and competitiveness i'm joined by my colleagues gana draz who's a manager and then kalosnik a senior manager and i will be sharing presenting duties with them today we are so pleased that you were able to join us virtually this morning for the webinar on the new canada united states mexico agreement otherwise known as the kuzma we hope the session will be useful to you this morning we'd like to cover a high-level overview of the kuzma before going into the key differences between the kuzma and the original nafta we'd like to talk a little bit about the key areas that are covered under the kuzma and how it applies to goods services business entry digital trade investment and inclusive trade we'd also like to leave you with an overview of where canada and bc's other ftas are and some recent developments in the ita landscape these were presented by my colleague ghana ben will then go over the resources and trade services that are available to you and where you can find information on them as you know the kuzma called the usmca by the us and team equine mexico replaced the 26 year old nafta on july 1st 2020 the renegotiations that resulted in the kuzma began in august 2017 at the uss request as you recall renegotiating the nafta was a major campaign priority of u.s president trump the resulting kuzma modernizes several elements of the nafta taking into account developments and improvements since the nafta entrance force 26 years ago importantly the kuzma retains key elements of the nafta and our preferential access to the u.s and mexico have been preserved it is a comprehensive agreement with 34 chapters covering areas like goods services investment digital trade intellectual property labor environment inclusive trade and so on it's also important to note that this agreement is subject to dispute settlement now we expect the kuzma to provide additional certainty and transparency though it is important to note that no fta will remove uncertainty completely what ftas do is that it provides a set of agreed upon rules and a framework for addressing issues should they come up let's talk a little bit about what has changed and what stayed the same between the kuzma and the nafta we'll start with some key areas that are essentially the same firstly the nafta eliminated virtually all tariffs on almost all goods in 1994. this preferential access to the us and mexico has been carried over into the kuzma very importantly as i mentioned earlier the nafta's dispute settlement mechanism has been preserved this has been used by canada on several occasions and this mechanism remains intact with some improvements another area that is essentially the same is our temporary entry access to the us and mexico and vice versa so what this does is it allows certain professions and categories of business visitors to enter temporarily to do business service and investment and so on on government procurement canada and the u.s chose to rely on what they had agreed to under the wto agreement on government procurement rather than including government procurement between them under the kuzma therefore the access under the agreement on government procurement is actually better than what was in the original nafta and since bc companies have had access to this for several years now this is effectively a status quo outcome finally although canada granted additional incremental quota access for dairy eggs and poultry canada's system of supply management remains intact under the kuzma so moving on to some of the key changes between the kuzma and the nafta first off there is a new digital trade chapter ecommerce of course being a key development in the international trade landscape since the original nafta was negotiated there are now also chapters on labor and environment contained within the agreement under the nafta they were side agreements canada and mexico have also agreed to a facility-specific rapid response labor mechanism between them an important change between the nafta and the kuzma is that the nafta's investors state dispute settlement also called isds is being phased out under the kuzma the agreement also has an annex and alcoholic beverages so it includes commitments on treating imports from the fta region similar to domestic products and reduces and streamlines labeling requirements for wine and distilled spirits the kuzma also has stricter rules of origin that is the amount of domestic content required for a good to be considered from canada the us or mexico for autos auto parts and textiles some additional differences between the agreements are is that canada has agreed to incremental quota access for dairy poultry and eggs the u.s in turn has agreed to additional access for us to send sugar sugar-containing products and certain dairy products into the us with respect to energy the agreement no longer includes what was once referred to as the energy proportionality clause so this had placed certain limitations on the ability of parties to constrain the export of energy products this is now gone the kuzma now includes a requirement for a formal review of the agreement at least every six years after entering the force this new review process will help ensure the agreement remains relevant and also help us address issues before they become major challenges parties can agree to extend the agreement 16 years after each review i'd like to talk now about how the kuzma applies to key areas starting with goods the kuzma seeks to facilitate the trading goods in several ways including through maintaining the nafta's zero percent tariffs on almost all goods so the vast majority of north american trade will continue to be duty-free under the kuzma in the resources section ben will go over using the canada tariff finder website so you can figure out if your goods have tariffs on them or not for goods the kuzma also improves our access for refined sugar sugar containing products and certain dairy products into the u.s the agreement also improves customs demonstrations and addresses some non-tariff barriers so making things easier at the border and supporting greater regulatory alignment and reducing unnecessary barriers to trade the agreement also modernizes certain origin procedures so for example electronic processes and simpler means by which to certify the origin of the good companies can also seek advanced rulings on how their goods will be treated finally all parties have agreed to maintain minimum the minimum thresholds for weighing customs duties and taxes on goods imported by courier from other kuzma parties note as i've mentioned on the previous slide canada did agree to additional quota access for dairy egg and poultry and there are stricter rules of origin for autos auto parts and textiles with respect to services the kuzma seeks to facilitate the trade and services by providing enhanced transparency predictability and leveling the playing field for service providers key commitments under the kuzma include obligations on national treatment this means that under the kuzma each party will treat service providers from the fta region no worse than they treat their own so the u.s has to trade bc and canadian service providers no worse than they treat american service providers there are also obligations on most favored nations so for example if the us and mexico were to give better treatment to other countries they would have to extend that treatment to us as well there are also some obligations on market assets this means for example that the three countries cannot introduce quantitative restrictions on service providers so for example they cannot suddenly say they will only allow a certain amount of professionals to practice in their territories the kuzma also uses a negative list approach this means that all services are included in the agreement unless there are specific exception against them positive lists would mean that only those that are listed are included you can see that a negative list approach is a lot more ambitious than a positive lifts approach the kuzma also seeks to improve transparency on licensing and qualifications and includes guidelines from mutual recognition agreements for the professional services with respect to business entry the kuzma remains the access that was enjoyed under nafta under the temporary entry check so this is where um the three parties recognize that the ability of business people to cross borders and to enter other markets is a key facilitator trade and investment activities so the level of access remains unchanged it applies to four categories of business persons so business visitors traders and investors enter company transferees and certain professionals there will be no labor market impact assessment requirement note a work permit may still be required access applies to citizens only and it also does not negate licensing or qualification requirements we will share a website on the resources portion of the presentation as information on the categories that are eligible the criteria where to apply and so on e-commerce is one of the big changes in how trade has been conducted since the original nafta that came into effect in 1994. the kuzma incorporates a new digital trade chapter recognizing the importance that the digital economy seeking to facilitate digital trade and build confidence in the digital trade is as a means of trade some of the highlights of the commitments include parties will not discriminate against or impose customs duties or other charges on digital products the kuzma also allows the free flow of information across borders to do business and seek to minimize data localization requirements note however there are still protections built into these for legitimate public policy objectives to protect data three governments have also agreed that they will not demand access to proprietary software source code they've also agreed to facilitate public access to and use open government information to support innovation and economic development moving on to investment the kuzmas investment chapter was updated to bring it into line with the recent treaty practices of the three parties the chapters contains a comprehensive and robust set of obligations similar to those found in other fdas such as the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-pacific partnership it includes standard commitments such as national treatment where parties agree to treat each other's investors no worse than their own mostly our nation mfn so if one party it's another country better treatment they will apply to us as well there is also a minimum syndrome treatment on how investors will be treated so fair and equitable treatment based on international law as well as rules around performance requirements this means that conditions like exporting a certain percentage of goods produced or transferring technology to the host country cannot be placed on the investment governments cannot also require companies to appoint senior managers of a particular nationality however governments can mandate that a majority of the board of directors conform to nationality or residency requirements now it's important to note that as with other areas of the agreement there are exceptions to these commitments so it's important to check what the exceptions are this is something we can help you with it's also important to note that the nafta's isds the investor state dispute settlement system being phased out the original nafta iscs mechanism will remain available to investors with respect to their existing investments under the nafta for a period of three years after the entry into force with respect to labor and environment the kuzma as i mentioned brings environment and labor and commitments into the agreement itself previously these commitments were found inside agreements and now they are part of the agreement and subject to the agreements state-to-state dispute settlement so not only is it the right thing to do to build on labor commitments and principles and maintain strong environmental laws there is actually a strong economic reason for doing so on the continent a key obligation that we've agreed to is non-derogation that is the three countries agree that they will not wave or weaken their labor or environmental laws in order to create an investment in the labor chapter new areas of coverage include addressing violence against workers eliminating sex-based discrimination and promoting women's equality at work the environment chapter includes obligations on several global environmental challenges for example sustainable forestry and fisheries management reducing pollution the ozone layer air quality biodiversity and so on it also seeks to facilitate the trade and investment in environmental goods and services importantly in both the labor and environment chapters failure to comply with an obligation is now presumed to affect trade or investment unless the defending party proves otherwise this is expected to improve the enforceability of these chapters with respect to inclusive trade seeking to ensure the benefits of ftas accrue to as many people and segments of the population of the economy as possible this is the intent of inclusive trade this is a lens that was been increasingly applied to canada's recent free trade agreements for example the we have the eu and the cptpp and now of course the kuzma new areas that are covered by inclusive trade include gender and indigenous peoples the one way that accusement promotes inclusive trade is through encouraging collaboration to enhance opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises that are owned by underrepresented groups including indigenous peoples and women it also encourages addressing barriers that limit the full participation of women in the workforce for example obligations to provide job protected leave for childbirth adoption and family care responsibilities and protection against wage discrimination kuzma also requires that parties implement policies that protect against gender-based discrimination in the workplace specifically with regard to pregnancy sexual orientation sexual harassment gender identity and caregiving responsibilities in a first for one of canada's free trade agreements handcrafted indigenous textiles and apparel goods are eligible for duty-free treatment provided that any requirements agreed to by the importing and exporting parties are met note the kuzma does not impact a country's legal obligation towards indigenous peoples this is something that continues to be protected in all of canada's free trade agreements with that i'd like to pass things over to ghana who will briefly talk about our other ftas and key developments in the fta landscape thank you chelsea so whether it is gusma free trade agreement with europe or south korea canada now has 14 ftas that cover 51 countries this map shows where in the world canada's ftas have been implemented these countries are shown in light blue the us the european union australia where the free trade negotiations have been concluded these countries are in dark blue like malaysia and where exploratory discussions and negotiations on potential ftas are taking place and these countries are in green for example brazil china india turkey in purple you will also see the countries that have both in force and not yet ratified ftas with canada and this is the case of chile and peru canada has a key first mover advantage as the only country to have free trade agreements with all other countries in the g7 the us the uk france germany italy and japan and canada is also the only g7 country with preferential fta access to the world's two largest economies the european union and the us the good thing is that canada has been very active in creating this preferential trade alliances with its trading partners but this preference we know will not last forever for example the european union has recently concluded nfta with vietnam and it is also in preferential trade agreements with singapore and japan and the us has reached a phase one agreement with with japan too and so on so it is impor ant to take advantage of the preferential trade agreements now and i also wanted to mention that canada has two domestic free trade agreements canadian free trade agreement and new west partnership trade agreement so moving to the recent developments in the eft landscape i first wanted to mention uh brexit and the sita so canada agreed to extend the canada european union comprehensive economic and trade agreement ceta to the uk during the uk's transition period from the european union so until the end of this year dc companies will continue to have sita access to the uk if no trade agreement is negotiated between canada and the uk during the transition period and the transition period of the uk from the european union is not expanded once this transition period ends trade with uk and canada will be on the uk global tariff and wto terms and these terms are a bit less preferential than the terms under the sita so if you're interested in the uk market and know of any trade barriers there and any market access that would be important to maintain in the eventual canada uk a free trade agreement please send us this information it's important for us to know of sectors and companies interests when we prepare for negotiations so some developments in the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-pacific partnership known as cptpp so the cptpp entered into force at the end of 2018 and is one of the canada's most recently implemented ftas uh it has been ratified by seven countries so far australia canada japan mexico new zealand singapore and vietnam and while many tariffs were removed immediately on day one of this agreement some tariffs are removed in stages over several years and now we are in the year three of the tariff reductions under the cbtbp so there might bring some additional advantages to to your business it is also important to note that the trade area may expand since other countries in the regions have expressed their interest in joining the cptvp thailand south korea and even the uk so a couple of words on canada ukraine a free trade agreement which entered into force in august 2017 it is covering goods only so far and before the pandemic there were public consultations on its possible modernization namely to include services sector so why is it important to to be seen well we see exports more to ukraine than any other canadian province and the discussions uh have been slowed down because of the pandemic but moving forward officials will continue to engage with the public and stakeholders on a possible kufta modernization and same with the as with the uk uh we encourage you to let us know of any trade barrier or important mug and access to to ukraine um and i wanted to reiterate that during the pandemic canada has said multiple times that it is committed to support canadian nbc exporters in the free flow of goods across its borders and it issued a number of joint statements with its key trading partners to confirm its positions so now i wanted to hand it to ben to get you through the resources and contact details thank you ghana the next thing we want to do is walk you through some practical tools to assist you with navigating free trade agreements this here is a screenshot from canada's tariff finder website it's a handy tool for figuring out what sort of tariffs your products will base in a market or what tariffs someone would pay when bringing a good into canada it is user friendly and specifically for the markets with which canada has ftas so this could be used for ftas other than kuzma as well all you need to begin is the market you are interested in and the product you want to export or import you can find your product by hs code if you know that or through a keyword search and if you put in a keyword search or an hs code the system will probably ask you a couple of questions to determine precisely which product you are interested in finding a tariff for okay the next thing i'm going to do is walk through some examples using canada's tariff finder and the first example we will go through is peanuts to the united states so we'll get started here and as you can see i've already chosen the united states as the export market and will indicate that kuzma is the relevant fda there and as i mentioned you can search by your product by both hs code or keyword let's just imagine that we already know rhs code which i have put into the uh line here and let's see what this brings up uh so as you can see this is uh the code for peanuts not or otherwise cooked and so we will select that code to indicate that that is the one that we are interested in and once you've uh identified the product that you are curious about it brings you up a description of the product and some notes here are uh regarding the tariffs and uh rules of origin and um down at the bottom is where you will see a chart and uh information breakdown on the types of tariffs that that product currently faces so we mentioned mfn rate earlier and as you can see that rate is 131.8 and uh as you can see below that uh you can see the rate under kuzma and so beginning this year which is of course the first year that kuzma went into force uh that rate is 109.8 which of course is quite low much lower already from the mfn rate but you can also see that over time this rate is gradually decreasing under kuzma on this product and to the point where by 2025 the tariffs will be zero so this product will enter the u.s market tariff-free right under choose one you can also choose to compare uh the u.s market with another market which we have by fta and that's up here you can at the top left in the screen you can choose the ad to compare and see how tariffs compare to other markets let's go back now and try one more example we are going to see if we can uh try something to mexico and let's say we are interested in chicken and for our sake we're going to be interested in whole fresh chicken and let's see if we can get a see if this brings up anything for us so if we just type in the whole fresh chicken as keywords uh what this brings up for us is uh uh hs photo zero two zero seven one one zero one and let's say that that's the product that you are specifically interested in if we do this we get the same thing a uh description of the product top and if we scroll down you can see the comparison and what you see here is kind of uh kind of interesting what uh the tariff rate for this product going into mexico is 75 uh under the most favored nation uh status uh under kuzma uh that weight is the same so there really is no advantage to food but when it comes to whole fresh chicken to mexico it's the same rate and under the cpp as you can see um kind of oddly the rate as in 2018 was much higher than the 75 so clearly if that were the same uh at the time of uh seeking to export that product to mexico you would of course just choose the mfn range because it was much more uh much better than the rate under the cbtp um but as you can see over time under the cptpp this rate is also going down to the point where as of 2024 the weight will be lower than the current mfn rate but it will become advantageous for you to use the cpp provisions to export this product to mexico uh and of course uh by 2027 the tariffs on this product will actually be down to zero carefree so that's because mexico is uh canada and we see businesses have access to mexico market potential access under both the cpp and kuzma now you might be wondering why this rate here is much higher than the mfn rate and there are a couple of potential explanations for that uh one is um the mfn rate may have actually decreased since the rates were negotiated under the cppt people as noted earlier to benefit from a preferential tariff rate though your good must qualify as originating in the kuzma party customs authorities will not automatically grant preferential tariff treatment on a shipment of goods preferential tariff rates must be claimed by the importer to claim tariff preference under kuzma exported goods must be accompanied by a certification of origin the certification of origin has no prescribed format but instead consists of a set of minimum data elements like the certifier's name telephone number the applicable tariff classification code rule of origin and so on now unlike some of our other ftas for preferential treatment under the kuzma certification can be completed by the importer exporter or producer it may apply to a single shipment of a good or multiple shipments of identical goods the certification is added to other commercial documentation and is valid for one year upon issuance and it can be sent to the importer electronically sometimes it isn't clear how a good should be classified or whether a good satisfies the rules of origin in this case you may wish to consider applying for an advanced ruling an advanced ruling is a written statement issued by the relevant customs authority that is where that product is entering a market attesting to a product classification or that it meets uh the rule of origin so if you're looking for certainty that your product meets the rules in the united states you must apply to the us customs and border patrol the authority must abide by its decision and the kuzma outlines the information required for a ruling and the timelines applicants can expect for a decision please note the issuance of an advanced ruling does not negate the requirement for an importer to have a certificate of origin in its possession at the time goods are imported and please note that nafta origin advanced rulings are no longer valid you must now apply for a kuzma origin advance ruling if you think that one is needed on tariff rate quotas the application period for the initial kuzma supply managed trqs has passed but the link here is a good place to visit for updates on the process and future application periods and finally on temporary entry the link that you see on the screen here contains details of temporary entry under the kuzma like rules of origin these rules can be complex and we're here to walk you through these in any other aspects of ftos trade commissioner service has something called a trade reporting a trade barrier and this website allows you to [Music] raise awareness to a trade barrier that you've experienced trade barriers of course include administrative procedures quantitative restrictions such as quotas price controls licensing requirements and product labeling requirements and they can take two forms really tariff and non-terror now it's important to remember that not all regulations and procedures are considered a trade barrier some regulations make sense such as those aimed at protecting public health or the environment now when you are facing a legitimate barrier though this website makes it very easy to report them you might think that others are probably experiencing the same barrier and have already raised it and that there's no sense in raising it but this is not necessarily true uh if everyone thought the same way then then it's possible that that barrier has not been raised and that the relevant authorities are not aware of it and can therefore not do anything about it so it's always helpful for governments to get that additional details know that more businesses are experiencing a certain area okay now let's move on to some of the other trade services this here is of course something that the federal government offers which is in the form of the trade commissioner service they are located across canada and the world and have a team dedicated to british columbia uh in fact they have more than 1 000 uh reps in 160 cities globally the trade commissioner service really offers four key services without cost to canadians looking to enter new world markets and that's preparation for international markets market potential assessments the identification of qualified local contacts and commercial problem solving so all of the contact information for the vc office is listed on the screen here and you can use that to reach out to them directly if you have any questions and bc has its own trade support services dedicated to bc businesses like yours if you are not yet in touch with export advisors from the export navigator program i strongly encourage you to use their free support and ongoing guidance to help your business grow outside of bc they offer businesses access to community-based export specialists who can provide a personalized step-by-step approach to exporting and help connect your business to market information export programs financial services and business development experts now another useful support service is bc's trade and investment representatives with offices in many countries including in the us the asia pacific and europe and their role is really to provide local market knowledge and intelligence to identify key contacts in markets and to assist at targeted trade shows and with visits to market these representatives also help international businesses discover the benefits of bc as a destination for investment a partner for trade and innovation and source of quality goods services and resources around the world i will now turn it over to will fox to talk about british columbia's united states trade and investment representative office will great thank you ben uh good day everyone it's a real pleasure to be visiting with you all this afternoon my name is will fox i'm the managing director in the united states on behalf of bc's trade investment representatives i've been fortunate enough to represent the great province of british columbia here in the united states going on nine years and have met some wonderful companies wonderful people wonderful government officials throughout the process and we have been doing great work in the united states on behalf of british columbia our job is to look after british columbia companies that are coming into the united states that want to sell their projects their services their products as well as our job is to try to find companies that are interested in growing a presence in british columbia and employing local british columbia folks in the in the uh in the opportunities so we have been fortunate enough to grow the footprints of british columbia in the united states and go and and showcase the wonders of the province so starting with the pacific northwest we have troy de frank who is based in our seattle office and troy has been with us now for approximately three years and came to us from the canadian consulate there the canadian council there in seattle and he's got a wealth of information and knowledge to be able to work with a lot of investors a lot of tech companies and really being on the border there he's been able to bring a variety of opportunities into the province and bringing up investors whether it's to the bc tech summit over the years on the geeks for train or one time it was able to bring in investors on geeks on a float plane where they came into victoria and was able to work with them so anybody that's needing representation in the seattle pacific northwest marketplace troy de frank is our person on the ground if you go down south on the west coast we have tate turner and megan blatten both representatives in the san francisco silicon valley arena they've both been with us as well for approximately three years and they both have extreme experience in the trade and investment arena megan comes from the canadian consulate there in san francisco where we were able to bring her over onto our team and before that she was also a representative for a variety of different economic development entities throughout the world she and tate turner who comes to us from the ukti the united kingdom trade and investment office he was with them for a variety of years and brings a wealth of knowledge of opportunities that are there in the in the silicon valley san francisco arena there is a tremendous amount of venture capital as we all know in silicon valley and it is a great place for companies in bc who have come down in years past to look for uh early stage seed or series a funding for their companies along with a tremendous amount of interest of companies that want to expand their operations into british columbia into the vancouver or victoria or kelowna markets in any other locations that they're they're of interest to them you go continue further south and you have alana wagner and alana is based in our los angeles office and a lot has been with us almost uh for over seven years now and she has got a wealth of experience in life sciences digital media entertainment sector and uh she came to us from the province of ontario where she did about six years plus of uh economic development as well with them and then in sacramento california we have maryland right at is the state capital of california and maryland's been with me for seven years as well and she has been our program manager but also very importantly she spends half of her time working on the agri-food uh sector so she has been a participant in the boston seafood show the fancy winter fancy food show in san francisco and then uh the the expo down in the natural products expo down in anaheim for all these years so marilyn is our go-to person when you have agri-food agritech opportunities where you want to sell your products she's working with brokers she's working with buyers from a variety of different chains here in the united states as you go to the east the east coast was uh is with chris king he's been with us over five years we did a study many years ago to take a look at the opportunities that might exist on the east coast on behalf of british columbia we found that uh many of the other provinces of canada were already represented there so we decided that it was time for us to have to put a person in place there so chris is based out of boston and really covers the boston and new york city uh communities quite extensively he does go down the coast and has been in virginia he's been in washington dc and it actually has gone as far south as florida with a couple of connections and opportunities there but when we say east coast is pretty much everything there but the main corridor is between boston and new york city which again has a plethora of opportunities for british columbia companies to come in and do trade and investments in into those communities chris is a well-connected person who comes with years of experience with also from the ukti as well as london east partners and he has a tremendous amount of energy that is beneficial for somebody who's doing business on the east coast east coast obviously is a little bit different it's a little bit more hyperkinetic than the west coast i mean west coast it's a plethora of opportunities east coast as well but there's a lot of um uh life sciences communications ict uh tremendous amount of wealth advisors in the new york city opportunity there as well so that's our team and uh we all report into silicon who is our senior manager she's based there in vancouver british columbia and she has been with us for over a year and we report in directly to her and she is our air traffic control uh so anybody who wants to come to us goes to her so anybody in the province that's interested in getting hold of us we recommend that you go to sila sahin senior manager of the ministry of jobs economic development competitiveness and she will then get you in touch with us i think that's it for now and i really appreciate visiting with you all today thank you so much great thanks will that is it for our presentation uh our trade policy and negotiations branch is here to support you and can help uh answer any questions that you might have we are always interested to hear about any barriers you are encountering in canadian and international markets we can seek to address them and can advocate with the federal government that they be addressed or we can put you in touch with the people that you need to get your goods and services to market on this slide here you can see our contacts as well as the contacts of the our trade readiness and services branch they are responsible for the export navigator program uh and would be the folks that would accompany you on business missions and trade shows if that's the type of support that you're looking for and you can also see the contact information for vc's trade and investment representatives including the main director as well as the the specific contact for the manager for the u.s tradeoff office that is it for our presentation thank you very much for listening