International Trade committee  I wouldn't say there's no need to rethink elements of it. There are still paths we want to pursue. We're going to be looking at what kinds of adjustments, what kinds of changes, should be made to position ourselves to respond as well as we can to a situation like this, and that will be a common view.

International Trade committee  It also ties into the kinds of changes we're making to our model—the foreign investment protection agreement—going forward. We have been including more inclusive trade provisions. We're trying to strengthen the government's right to regulate in relation to that. We're trying to ensure that the process is going to be ethical and predictable.

International Trade committee  I think there are a couple of issues related to that. The circumstances of our ending up with a result where we don't have an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism with the U.S. under the new agreement comes out of the history we've had under NAFTA. We didn't think that was a particularly good path to follow, going forward.

International Trade committee  I would suggest that the COVID experience has certainly changed the world of trade, to some degree, and has caused us to look somewhat differently at some of the approaches that are being used. I wouldn't say that's across the board, because existing free trade agreements, and any of our free trade agreements going forward do contain inherent flexibilities to protect human life and health that provide us with scope to do what we may need to do in many of these areas.

International Trade committee  Well, we are putting a lot of resources and effort behind that as we stand now. That is certainly a priority. It takes a number of different forms. You spoke earlier about the notion of the digital funds that were coming out of budget as well. We're putting a lot of effort into digital agreements and working domestically with companies to enhance their digital capabilities.

International Trade committee  I don't really see that as much of a risk. What happened with us with respect to the U.S. in the CUSMA negotiations was because of a particular relationship we have with the U.S. on that issue. Outside of the NAFTA cases we have had, we get very few cases against Canada by foreign investors.

International Trade committee  That is absolutely right. Every market is a little bit different. In some cases it's going to make perfect sense, particularly if we don't have much confidence in the domestic court system in a particular country. That may be an issue. Yes, it needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis.

International Trade committee  It is something we're spending an increasing amount of time on because one of the results we often see after we have a free trade agreement in place is that we have dealt with most of the obvious barriers, but non-tariff barriers can crop up. They can be harder to get to. When it comes to our CETA agreement with the Europeans, there is a lot of focus on non-tariff barriers.

International Trade committee  I think I could best characterize it as a bit of a full-court press. We have our embassy in Washington that's very active on this issue. We have various levels, from officials to ministers, engaged in this as well. One of the things we've been doing is talking a lot to Canadian companies and U.S. companies and business organizations on both sides about how we can best demonstrate to the U.S. that if they impose restrictions against Canadian exports, that will damage not only Canadian interests but also U.S. interests.

International Trade committee  Well, it operates on a number of different paths. Obviously, for the U.S., as our main market where we export most of our goods, that's a priority. Issues like buy America are something that we're spending a lot of time on, and we have a very comprehensive strategy to address that.

International Trade committee  Well, we're trying to avoid targeting a very small number of specific sectors. Certainly, we are taking full recognition of the important sectors in the economy and putting a lot of emphasis on those sides, but we also want to put a lot of emphasis on small and medium-sized businesses and on ensuring they're equipped either to get into the U.S. market or to diversify their interest into other markets.

International Trade committee  I think there's work to be done on that. I think there is a comfort with the domestic market. There is a comfort with the U.S. market. We have more work to do in Europe. We have more work to do in Asia to ensure that companies are both prepared and ready to take that extra step of trying to test out those kinds of markets.

International Trade committee  I'm afraid that's not really my area. I will look to Sara, maybe, in the first instance. Sara, are you able to respond to that?

International Trade committee  I can respond to that. As you know, the transitional agreement came into effect on April 1. Since then we have been conducting consultations with stakeholders to get a clear sense of what various stakeholders would like to see in a new agreement. That consultation is nearing an end.

International Trade committee  We are having ongoing conversations with the U.S. at this point at various levels, and specifically on the buy American issues in particular. I'm talking to my counterparts in the U.S. at the political level. The refreshing part of the new administration in the U.S. is that they are very open to this kind of dialogue, and that's what we're working on.