International Trade committee  You may have opted to consider it the other way, but that didn't happen.

International Trade committee  I think in instances where your money has been held against your will and it's been found that it never should have been held in the first place and you're entitled to get it back, the tax law ought to recognize the problem.

International Trade committee  Thank you for that question. The deposits started being made in 2002. The Canadian dollar was not as valuable then as it is now, but the money was handed over to the U.S. Treasury then and held all that time. As it comes back, it comes back against the very highly appreciated Canadian dollar.

International Trade committee  Apart from the settlement in Mexican cement, I'm not aware of any agreements like this one where money held in the U.S. Treasury as a cash deposit against projected customs duties was later returned at a much later date, subject to an agreement. That is, money does come back, but not in the context of an agreement; it comes back as a result of the judicial process, as might have been the case here, but isn't.

International Trade committee  As the chairman indicated, I'm not here to address the agreement per se. If you invest and you get it wrong on a currency exchange, that's your own risk. I believe Canadian tax law recognizes that. But here, there was no investment made. You weren't at your own risk. The money was taken from you and held.

International Trade committee  No, I don't.

International Trade committee  I could certainly arrange to do that.

International Trade committee  I have no idea of that either. I'm sorry.

International Trade committee  I'm their counsel.

International Trade committee  Three minutes, roughly.

International Trade committee  It contains provisions to ensure that illegal actions of the United States Department of Commerce are not expressly endorsed by the Government of Canada and this Parliament, and that private companies deprived of access to dispute resolution within the agreement are not abandoned with no recourse.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm appearing on behalf of the Free Trade Lumber Council. I'm pleased to appear before the committee as it deliberates over the implementation of the softwood lumber agreement. I want to express my personal gratitude for the scheduling adjustment that made it possible for me to appear.

International Trade committee  Thank you for that question, because it gives me an opportunity to conclude the remarks I didn't quite get to finish earlier. This is in my view an historic, unprecedented, astounding intrusion into American politics. We've researched all the way back to the revolution and found nothing like it in American history.

International Trade committee  The provision in article 13(A)(2) of the agreement, which lists the meritorious initiatives, contains language that could describe only a slush fund for the President.

International Trade committee  You lose a lot more than $1 billion.