Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Yes, absolutely.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  It is always possible to renegotiate commitments made in a WTO agreement, whether it's plurilateral or multilateral. However, we must not forget that the member states consider it a privilege to be part of the WTO. Its members are in an exclusive club. When you withdraw privilege

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  That's a very good question. I knew you would be the one to ask it, given the last few committee meetings. It's simple. A free trade agreement can be an exception to the general principles of international trade only if it meets certain conditions of form and substance. We can s

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Yes, that's correct. That's one of the things I was saying at the end of my speech. But do we really want to reopen the tough negotiations on CUSMA? That remains to be seen, and it's a political issue. However, yes, it would be entirely possible to have a companion agreement, a

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Basically, you've got it right. I will summarize what I said. No, we can't have a preferential agreement with the States. That's the rule. When we enter into a free trade agreement, however, we can include an exception. In NAFTA, there was a chapter on government procurement tha

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  I wasn't in the room during the negotiations. So I can't know if the government was aware of it. I would hope that it was a consequence they had not considered. U.S. demands were exorbitant on government procurement and would have truly put Canada at a disadvantage. I suspect th

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to discuss the United States' Buy America jobs plan and the U.S. president's recent executive order. You have heard from several government officials, including some ministers, that they woul