Well, you want to do an FTA with a country where there are trade barriers, right? I mean, the whole idea of negotiating a free trade agreement is to reduce trade barriers and allow companies to do business more easily. If we try to do FTAs with countries where there are no barriers, it would make a good announcement, but it doesn't necessarily do much for business.
I think there's potential with Japan in the context of how this is a country where we've had persistent problems getting access to that market. So to the extent that we can resolve those issues through bilateral negotiation, we're certainly seeing that in a way that's very positive. But the goal here shouldn't be to negotiate an FTA at all costs. I think it should be to negotiate an agreement that is of benefit to the Canadian manufacturing sector. Also, I would assume that Japan wants to get a similar outcome for their own sectors.
I don't think the fact that we export mostly raw materials and processed raw materials and they export to us manufactured goods.... I mean, I would like an FTA to help us achieve more of a balance. I think there's potential. Canadian manufacturers are used to competing globally. I think I made that pretty explicit in my comments. Our members feel they can compete against anybody around the world, as long as they have a fair chance to compete on a level playing field.
So I think that when it comes to Japan, that's the issue our members keep raising: we want reciprocity. It's okay for Japanese companies to come here and compete with us, but only to the extent that we can actually go to their market and compete on the same basis. To the extent that we can accomplish that through these trade negotiations, we'd certainly be in support.