Madame Bourgeois, one of the things I've learned in my time in trade negotiations is that no negotiation is perfect. There are trade negotiations where you don't achieve all that you feel you should or could achieve, but that's, as I say, the nature of a trade negotiation.
We believe that this negotiation will provide stability for seven years, possibly for as many as nine years. This is very important for our lumber sector because of the importance of having stability for a period of time and also of having stability at a time when they have been relieved of the burden of paying the taxes, the duties, that have been levied by the United States. That, again, is an important part of the agreement.
The members of that industry will get money back. Will they get as much money as we would like to get back for them? No, but it's still significant, over 80%. We added something that is a new element in the thinking of both the United States' government and the United States' industry. There is a tendency to ignore the fact that third-country imports were, six or seven years ago, less than 1%. They're now, in the last couple of years, in and around 5%--one year it's over, one year it's under 5%. We put in a provision that when third-party exporters to the United States are basically the cause of some trade problems or price problems, we don't get blamed for it. We've allowed for a reduction in the amount of tax in those instances.
So there are a number of good things to balance some of the things that maybe we would have preferred not to have in the agreement, but overall, I think it's a good balance. Overall, I think the industry is well served. When you look at the broad picture of the agreement, I think it's a good agreement, and it's on that basis that I recommend it to the Prime Minister.