Mr. Chairman, both amendments have to do with the snap-back provision, the first one for the auto sector and the second one for the Canadian steel sector. They are worded identically, and the concept is identical.
In terms of autos, we know in the KORUS deal the U.S. was able to negotiate with Korea a provision that, if there is a surge in Korean auto products into the United States and it has been determined by a panel that that has done damage to the domestic U.S. auto production industry, there is a provision for the 2.5% auto tariff against Korean imports to be snapped back into place.
There's some sound reasoning and factual basis for that. Of course, the auto sector in the United States and in Canada are very important industries, not only for direct jobs but indirect jobs in our countries. We know one of the historic concerns of the North American auto sector has been that the Korean auto market is very closed to North American products through a variety of tariff and non-tariff barriers, but the North American market is relatively open.
In order to make sure there is fair trade between the two jurisdictions, there is a provision to protect our domestic production, again not from competition and not from Korean products, but from a surge in those Korean products that we believe is caused by, and is found to be caused by, trade practices that are not in keeping with the trade agreement.
We find the snap-back provision is an effective tool, and it has been called for by a number of industry sources in Canada.
I'll talk briefly for a moment about steel, before I conclude, Mr. Chairman. I had occasion to meet with representatives of the steel sector in Canada. When we were in Nova Scotia studying CETA and the TPP, concerns were expressed about European steelmakers and the effect it will have on Canadian steel producers. But also there has been a fairly long-standing concern in Canada about Korean steel manufacturing. While not necessarily constituting dumping—although that has been alleged—there have been a lot of Korean steel products coming into Canada at very low prices that are pushing out Canadian-made steel production, without concomitant steel access from Canadian producers to the Korean market.
We think there's a solid justification to help the Canadian steel industry make sure they are competing on a fair, level playing field, and if that turns out not to be the case, that the tariffs on steel have the ability to be snapped back if it turns out Korean steel products are surging in Canada and causing damage to the Canadian steel industry.