Professor Tiberghien, one thing that is a more common feature of trade and economic integration agreements nowadays is the sensitivity to non-tariff barriers, and that's one thing I would give the government credit on. The current government has focused a lot more on addressing non-tariff barriers than previous governments before them.
I know with Japan this is something that seems to come up quite a bit. It's not necessarily the tariffs that prevent companies in other countries from having access to the Japanese markets; it's the myriad types and depths of non-tariff barriers.
One of them I'd like to get your opinion on. I've been led to believe that there are different business models in Japan and in Canada. In Japan they use a conglomerate structure a lot more, a lot of vertical integration. A heavy manufacturer will also have relations with the bank and have relations with their suppliers, and in fact sometimes with common shareholders. That can be an impediment to foreign competitors coming in and trying to bid on various aspects of that work.
I'd like to know how true that is, whether you see those as trade barriers, and if you have any suggestions as to how we might address those in a trade agreement.