Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for your valuable testimony.
My questions are largely for the Competition Bureau.
In the last meeting, we discussed that in the EU, interchange rates are capped at 0.3% for consumer credit cards. In Australia, it's 0.5% of the transaction value—it's a weighted average. The U.S. does not regulate credit card interchange fees. Our government was able to negotiate a reduction in interchange fees for small businesses that have a credit card volume of less than $300,000 for Visa, for example.
Why do we in North America do it differently from Australia or the EU? Why can't we just regulate across the board? Is there something in place that prevents that?