Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for being here today.
I want to go back to the first round. I heard a couple of things that make me feel that we're in a situation here of trying to get out in front of it.
Mr. Harvey, you said something about not being sure yet, that maybe we're getting at this too early. I've been sitting around government for nine years now. It's never too early for government, because bureaucracy doesn't move very quickly, Mr. Harvey. I think it's important that we do get out in front of it.
There are a lot of issues, obviously, and a lot of unanswered questions. There are some theoretical issues that we're dealing with, but I think it is extremely important that we do come together as industries and governments at all levels. No one's talking about the provincial governments, but I think they have a major role to play in this as well, and it has to be science-based, obviously, in all of trade.
I've said this at this committee before, but if the U.S. moves on this, we'd better be ready, because it's over a billion dollars in pork alone, I believe, that is exported to the U.S.
It's understandable that there are a lot of questions, but it's also understandable that we're acting now as opposed to having you come back here someday saying that we need more time. I think that's really important. I also think—and Mr. Lehoux touched on this a little bit—that our farmers in Canada—whether everybody recognizes it or not, and sometimes that doesn't happen in the media, obviously—are in a very good position. When you look around the world and see what everybody else is doing on sustainability in regard to climate change, our farmers are leading the way. To me, yes, trade is trade, and you're always going to have those obstacles that the Pork Council runs into on the EU and so on and so forth, but in putting our farmers up against anybody in the world, I think we're in a very good position.
One thing that wasn't mentioned that I think could be very unfair if we're not ready to act on this—or it could be very beneficial—is that if we don't meet the trade obligations through cross-border tariffs to another country, the tariffs that we're paying those countries are going back to those industries. No one is really talking about that, and I think that's something that this government and your advocacy should be certainly pushing for, and maybe we'd get to that $2 billion relatively quickly.
Anybody can take this. What are the opportunities for our farmers in Canada if this does, in fact, take place, which we assume it's going to?
Go ahead, Mr. Roy.