Canada's auto parts industry is taking stock of Canadian companies that have operations in the United States. The goal is to let U.S. lawmakers know just how integrated the North American automotive industry is as the future of NAFTA remains in doubt.
The Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association is conducting a survey it calls "Measure of Canadian Companies Having a U.S. Manufacturing Footprint." Its goal is to determine how many facilities Canadian companies operate in the United States, the number of Americans they employ, and in which U.S. electoral districts those plants are located.
"Not only will your submission assist our efforts, but it will also assist your company as we take the aggregate state statistical information to Washington and remind individual congressional representatives that while companies in their jurisdictions may be Canadian owned, the jobs created are American [voters]," the APMA says on its note to members.
The information will help ensure that healthy trade relations between Canada and the United States stay strong.
"As a country, we're a pretty big international investor," APMA President Flavio Volpe said. "Canadian parts suppliers are one of the biggest employers, employing Americans and Mexicans. It's important for us — 'us' being the industry at large and the provincial and federal governments, who advocate on our behalf — to understand what Canadian investment across NAFTA looks like."