It's probably more important than ever before, particularly given the fact that our major trading partner is going through such economic difficulty today. We are seeing companies that are looking for new markets and new customers. In fact, we've seen quite a shift in expectations and priorities, at least in the manufacturing sector. Maybe three years ago the emphasis was on productivity; now everybody is trying to find new customers as well. So those things are more important than ever.
We need to negotiate a new type of trade agreement. The issues are no longer tariffs and simple non-tariff barriers, like quotas. They're much more insidious. There are procurement restrictions, like Buy American, for example, that affect the municipal level and uncovered state levels that are not part of the NAFTA. There's the use of IP, export controls, regulations, and standards. All of these are being used by countries around the world to protect their own domestic industries and effectively put up barriers to trade.
So our trade agreements have to focus on those areas, and those are the areas that we're negotiating with the United States in procurement and border issues, and with Europe. I hope we'll continue to do it with other countries too.