International Trade committee  We've had follow-up meetings to clarify the positions that we have proposed in writing. It is now in the hands of the government as to if and when they will take action. We're hopeful that it's imminent, but as I said before, every week that goes by is troubling to us. I think the process they've used is commendable, and we look forward to a full investigation, where the facts will bear out.

International Trade committee  We have not applied. For us it's very important to have a strong and healthy market. I again commend the government on the work on Trans Mountain, in trying to get our resources to market. These are fundamentally important to us. Canada is the fourth-largest market for the products we make, yet our clients can't get their products to market.

International Trade committee  Certainly, I think good trade requires good, strong rules. Even though we are good friends, having rules is very important. I think we'll see economic growth from having a USMCA, and that's good for most people in the industry. The important resources that have been added to the CBSA will be one of the most fundamental changes we will see in the next couple of years as they come up to speed and are able to discipline those exporters that are exporting to Canada unfairly.

International Trade committee  It will be very quick now. Secondly, the safeguard is to defend Canadian jobs and it's urgent now. In the nine months ending June 30, we have seen a 70% increase in the imports from non-USMCA destinations, 70% at a price that is significantly below the USMCA imports to Canada.

International Trade committee  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to contribute to your study. It's an important one at a critical time in this industry for steelmakers, steel users and steel buyers. I am responsible for institutional relations at Tenaris. I've worked at the company since the very beginning in Canada, almost 20 years now.

International Trade committee  Not to our knowledge is there any Chinese ownership of the Canadian steel industry.

International Trade committee  Our view is that Canada is in a very strong position to negotiate a free trade agreement with China, although you would know the details more than I would. In terms of market economy status, however, Canada is a world leader in its policy, because each time we file a case against China, we need to demonstrate that they are not a market economy.

International Trade committee  In reality, then, we should not grant them anything, because we need to prove it. They should be informed as we're negotiating. You already have market economy status; the Canadian producers have to prove that you are not a market economy in status.

International Trade committee  I will answer his question a little bit by saying that the particular market situation in the medium term may be a tool that will enable us, if China continues to act the way they are doing, to use the new tools and to find successful cases against them.

International Trade committee  I think we could say that in theory a healthier, more competitive Canadian domestic industry will enable and facilitate a healthy and competitive shipbuilding industry.

International Trade committee  I couldn't express what our colleague from ABB described as what manufacturing of the future will look like. It looks like that today in our facility. For example, we can be on a laptop anywhere in the world and watch the production go through our line. We can watch as an operator changes the speed, the temperature, the torque, or whatever it would be in that line.

International Trade committee  In reality, you need to have the economics—the income statement, the costs, the detailed pricing, the competitive information—in order to file a successful case and to follow it through, so it's very difficult, I believe, for the unions to file a case. However, the actions committed to yesterday, for unions to be able to be a supportive party and to make representations, I think will be helpful.

International Trade committee  I'll try to be quick with this. To give you an idea, we won a case against China. Within a couple of years, a trader from another country submitted a request to CBSA for a product, the same one that we won the case against in China. They moved to another country, Indonesia, added small value to it, came to Canada, and asked for what's called an “advance ruling”.

International Trade committee  This is actually, in our view, the most valuable of the tools. It enables the CBSA now to investigate and make a decision when calculating the dumping margin to make sure that they are considering what would be the costs and pricing from an exporter, based on a properly functioning market.

International Trade committee  I'll say the same thing. When competition is won unfairly by a foreign competitor, we lose volume, so we employ fewer people to operate the plant. We lose price, therefore, we have less profit to reinvest in the facility. Ultimately, year after year, if you have less money to reinvest, you end up with a less productive facility.