Actually, because Canada isn't a very competitive country, I think we are lucky to have the U.S. as our neighbour and its market so accessible to us. For example, the falling price of oil has had a significant impact on the entire Canadian economy, and our manufacturing companies aren't even able to pick up the slack despite the low loonie. That makes our ability to compete in a global marketplace even more uncertain.
The Americans are very protectionist in certain areas, including agriculture. The example I often give is this. We buy Florida oranges, and once they go through customs, they can't be sent back to Florida. They have to stay in Canada. That's pretty clear. And yet, we let American companies that import Canadian poultry take advantage of tariff exemptions when they export that same poultry back to Canada four years later. We have no idea which products it will turn up in or who will do the checking. When I talked about Canada's soft approach, this is what I was talking about.
It's clear to my mind that we are beginning to suffer the consequences of underinvesting in research. That's what I was saying earlier. The fact that Vegpro's product is on the market today is thanks to the variety of lettuce it developed.