International Trade committee  I wouldn't say there's no need to rethink elements of it. There are still paths we want to pursue. We're going to be looking at what kinds of adjustments, what kinds of changes, should be made to position ourselves to respond as well as we can to a situation like this, and that w

International Trade committee  I think there are a couple of issues related to that. The circumstances of our ending up with a result where we don't have an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism with the U.S. under the new agreement comes out of the history we've had under NAFTA. We didn't think that w

International Trade committee  It also ties into the kinds of changes we're making to our model—the foreign investment protection agreement—going forward. We have been including more inclusive trade provisions. We're trying to strengthen the government's right to regulate in relation to that. We're trying to e

International Trade committee  I would suggest that the COVID experience has certainly changed the world of trade, to some degree, and has caused us to look somewhat differently at some of the approaches that are being used. I wouldn't say that's across the board, because existing free trade agreements, and

International Trade committee  Well, we are putting a lot of resources and effort behind that as we stand now. That is certainly a priority. It takes a number of different forms. You spoke earlier about the notion of the digital funds that were coming out of budget as well. We're putting a lot of effort into

International Trade committee  I don't really see that as much of a risk. What happened with us with respect to the U.S. in the CUSMA negotiations was because of a particular relationship we have with the U.S. on that issue. Outside of the NAFTA cases we have had, we get very few cases against Canada by forei

International Trade committee  That is absolutely right. Every market is a little bit different. In some cases it's going to make perfect sense, particularly if we don't have much confidence in the domestic court system in a particular country. That may be an issue. Yes, it needs to be examined on a case-by-c

International Trade committee  It is something we're spending an increasing amount of time on because one of the results we often see after we have a free trade agreement in place is that we have dealt with most of the obvious barriers, but non-tariff barriers can crop up. They can be harder to get to. When i

International Trade committee  I think I could best characterize it as a bit of a full-court press. We have our embassy in Washington that's very active on this issue. We have various levels, from officials to ministers, engaged in this as well. One of the things we've been doing is talking a lot to Canadian

International Trade committee  Well, it operates on a number of different paths. Obviously, for the U.S., as our main market where we export most of our goods, that's a priority. Issues like buy America are something that we're spending a lot of time on, and we have a very comprehensive strategy to address tha

International Trade committee  Well, we're trying to avoid targeting a very small number of specific sectors. Certainly, we are taking full recognition of the important sectors in the economy and putting a lot of emphasis on those sides, but we also want to put a lot of emphasis on small and medium-sized busin

International Trade committee  I think there's work to be done on that. I think there is a comfort with the domestic market. There is a comfort with the U.S. market. We have more work to do in Europe. We have more work to do in Asia to ensure that companies are both prepared and ready to take that extra step o

International Trade committee  I'm afraid that's not really my area. I will look to Sara, maybe, in the first instance. Sara, are you able to respond to that?

International Trade committee  I can respond to that. As you know, the transitional agreement came into effect on April 1. Since then we have been conducting consultations with stakeholders to get a clear sense of what various stakeholders would like to see in a new agreement. That consultation is nearing an e

International Trade committee  We are having ongoing conversations with the U.S. at this point at various levels, and specifically on the buy American issues in particular. I'm talking to my counterparts in the U.S. at the political level. The refreshing part of the new administration in the U.S. is that the