International Trade committee  Well, I'll start and perhaps Denis can add to this. There's no question that, from a Canadian standpoint, seeking better access in agriculture, as well as fish and forestry products, will be a high priority for us. It constitutes nearly half of our exports to Japan now, and tho

International Trade committee  I think you can be confident that we would be not negotiating away our supply management system. I think I could also add that during all of the exploratory discussions we've had with Japan, we've been given no reason to believe that represents an offensive interest for them.

International Trade committee  Yes, projections have been done. In fact, back in 2006-2007 we commissioned a study on the possible impact of free trade with Korea, Japan, and the EU in the automotive sector. That study, which is now a bit dated, has just been updated. It's undergoing final translation and will

International Trade committee  What I can say is that during the public consultation process that we had last year in the context of the joint study, we received something like 32 submissions from Canadian stakeholders. Of those, two were in the category of critical or concerned, 26 were in favour, and four we

International Trade committee  The department itself is not indicating that even the automotive sector would be a loser. In fact, we would see some opportunities in the Japanese market. In fact, the basis for the concern the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association conveyed to us is the perception that the J

International Trade committee  We expected that stakeholders who had perceived that an agreement of this nature would be negative for them would have brought their concerns to our attention.

International Trade committee  Given that Japan is the world's third-largest economy, and the relationship is as big as it is, we would expect that the benefits would be spread across the country and that there would be benefits in all regions.

International Trade committee  The first point I would make is that the trade balance is actually pretty even.

International Trade committee  No, it's even in trade as a whole. Our exports and imports from Japan are pretty close. In fact, according to Japanese import statistics, it's almost in perfect balance. I don't have the detailed breakdown in terms of sector by sector, but the point the joint study makes is tha

International Trade committee  In aggregate, absolutely.

International Trade committee  I think the statistics are pretty clear that we import more manufactured goods from Japan than we export. But I'm not sure that I would accept the thesis that it's all raw materials and low-value products. There are a lot of high-value products within the resource sectors that ar

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. As you've heard, my name is Ian Burney. I'm the assistant deputy minister for trade policy and negotiations at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. It's certainly my pleasure to be here today to speak to you on the topic