International Trade committee  My sense, as I tried to indicate earlier, is that we've created an incentive package for the coalition to file another petition. The terms of the agreement are a straitjacket for Canadian industry. If it works as the coalition would like it to work, there's no reason to bring another case, but if it doesn't work for whatever reason, the benefits of filing a petition are manifest and would have effect 24 months from the effective date.

International Trade committee  On your second question, the agreement sets out now the terms of U.S. law. It says that once there's a notice for the liquidation of the entries, within six months Customs needs to repay the money. That liquidation notice is to follow within 10 days of a final court decision saying that the entries are indeed to be liquidated.

International Trade committee  If there's no agreement, I think you'll have to complete the period of appeal under the Court of Appeal, so I think you're 12 months away—

International Trade committee  —but at 12 months away you'll get two years' of the money and all of the interest immediately, and then you'll see the rest of it come in, and it'll be 100%, accumulating interest until the date it's returned. Under the terms of the agreement, interest stops on the effective date.

International Trade committee  Thank you. That's correct, it is by convention. This is a government-to-government agreement, but it's been frequently invoked that the United States government would therefore undertake, in effect, not to terminate early. But it was admitted during the negotiations that the United States was negotiating on behalf of the coalition.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Boshcoff. Let me take your questions in the reverse order to which you asked them. You asked if this is the end of NAFTA. The alternative dispute system proposed in the agreement is a complete abandonment of chapter 19, so it declares that chapter 19 is irrelevant.

International Trade committee  I have just two paragraphs. I understood I had seven minutes, and I think I'm in that vicinity.

International Trade committee  Thank you. The lone abhorrent and still controversial exception has been money donated in the immediate aftermath of the emergency created by Hurricane Katrina, and the sums involved were very small. So here we have the Government of Canada requiring that Canadian private parties sign over $450 million to an escrow fund slated to be conveyed to the White House.

International Trade committee  Excuse me. --with the United States.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for inviting me to appear again before this committee. Although I represent a number of Canadian industry interests in the softwood lumber dispute, I'm not presenting any specific views of my clients. After reviewing the testimony you heard on July 31, I decided to refocus my planned remarks.