Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his efforts, both as an industry minister and a foreign minister, to assist and promote the interests of Canadians at international levels. A remarkable job that we are all very proud of.
With regard to the question of steel, because it is one that has come up and a number of our members are affected, we have a number of concerns regarding the American position on protectionism and steel. Canada is a trading nation and we are prosperous because the goods and services that Canadians produce and export around the world bring benefits to Canada as well as to other countries. When those open markets are threatened this is a concern to all Canadians.
On the specific issue of the iron and steel sector, we know that the North American steel industry is very closely integrated. Steel shipments between Canada and the United States are almost of equal value. Steel companies have highly specialized factories on both sides of the border designed to produce specific steel products. Fabricated and semi-processed products move both south and north across the border to be processed or sold as finished goods.
Therefore, threats to existing market access in the sector would disrupt and not enhance the effect of an efficient use of manufacturing resources and the highly skilled labour in North America.