Finance committee  I have other quotes from Jayson Myers that are very supportive of this measure. On the impact, it's supposed to have a 0.1% positive impact on GDP, increase jobs by 12,000, and increase exports by 3.6% to all regions. The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters worked very closely with us on this measure in consulting and making sure we reached all interested stakeholders.

Finance committee  On this measure, some economic modelling was done concerning the proposal. That's the reference you heard the minister give to the positive impact on GDP and employment. So in broad-based budget consultations and under the government's Advantage Canada plan, everything was done to respond to the need to improve the competitiveness of Canadian manufacturers, particularly given the economic crisis.

Finance committee  That's right.

Finance committee  In the consultations every sector that is listed stands to benefit, although there were some sensitivities and those were accommodated through a gradual phase-out. You'll notice some of the tariffs will not be removed until 2015. So there is always a balance between sectors and within sectors, and those were addressed through phase-outs.

Finance committee  I'm sorry, there are 1,541 tariff items listed here. And those that are phased out over a longer period reflect areas where there are sensitivities. As I indicated, in those areas where there are sensitivities, those sectors are of course looking for immediate reduction on certain imports and phase-outs of others.

Finance committee  The public consultations are quite extensive. We start with a Gazette notice that lists all the tariff items and the proposals relating to those tariff items on tariff relief. Then the industry and all interested stakeholders have a certain period of time in which to submit their views.

Finance committee  In terms of the feeling that this came out of the blue, actually there have been consultations ongoing with industry for quite some time, and we saw that in budget 2009 when tariffs were removed on a broad range of machinery and equipment. Further to that, several submissions were made to the Department of Finance and it was decided that further consultation should be made.

International Trade committee  Just on that, I don't have any projections. There has been steady growth, as you're saying, in our exports to Colombia. We know that if the Colombian economy is going to continue to grow at the pace it has been growing over the last several years, pre-recession, then they will have to make major investments in infrastructure.

International Trade committee  Absolutely. That's part of this agreement.

International Trade committee  Yes, that's right. In that case, we look at Canadian traditional exports to Colombia, we look at growth, and we say that at a minimum--

International Trade committee  There is always preferential treatment given in any trade negotiations we have with a developing country, so we would be looking for them to phase out tariffs over a longer period of time than Canada would. Our tariffs were phased out either immediately or over three to seven years, whereas Colombia would phase theirs out over a five- to ten-year period.

International Trade committee  Thank you. As I indicated, this is a very robust market access agreement. Most Colombian tariffs will be eliminated on most Canadian exports immediately upon implementation of this agreement, and that includes wheat, pulses--which are key exports--a variety of paper products, machinery, and equipment.

International Trade committee  Absolutely, and our wheat exports in particular compete head-on with the United States. I would say that in all categories we're competing with the United States. In paper products, machinery, and equipment, that is certainly the case. So yes, this agreement provides an important advantage to our exporters.

International Trade committee  In these types of negotiations, the negotiations focus on areas where there are sensitivities, and in those areas where Colombia had domestic sensitivities, they'd be demanding to phase the tariff out over a period of time to allow for adjustment. Those sensitivities are accommodated by these longer phase-outs.

International Trade committee  Thank you for that question. When I was preparing to come before this committee, I was thinking back; it's been two years since negotiations have been completed. Part of the reason this FTA was aggressively negotiated was due to the recommendations of this committee to undertake defensive FTAs to ensure that we don't become uncompetitive in markets in which our trading partners are negotiating FTAs.