International Trade committee  Well, we've been very strong supporters, for decades, of multilateral dealings. The reality is that multilateral dealing, the Doha, is very.... It's not going anywhere. So we can't stand still while other countries are out there negotiating individual agreements and have Canada e

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee. Spirits Canada is the only national trade association representing the interests of Canadian spirits manufacturers and marketers, and we appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to share our views. Let me start

International Trade committee  It's about $800,000 a year.

International Trade committee  We see a terrific opportunity to expand that $800,000. If we didn't see that, we wouldn't be here. We definitely see opportunity to grow our business in Korea.

International Trade committee  Certainly double, triple....

International Trade committee  First of all, we don't believe we would lose any jobs. This would be a gain for the Canadian industry. Pressure on the business today—

International Trade committee  I wouldn't say it would be 1,000. It would be somewhere up to 1,000, potentially. It depends upon how big the business gets. We are a primary manufacturer. We take raw materials and turn them into highly finished goods. The people we employ are skilled. It takes time for them t

International Trade committee  Should I go first?

International Trade committee  Absolutely. Clearly the United States continues to be our largest market. Canadian whiskey is the largest-selling whiskey in the United States. We outsell Scotch, Irish, bourbon combined, by a wide margin. The dollar has had a significant impact on our ability to be successful

International Trade committee  It ranges a little bit, but there are between $500,000 and $800,000 a year of exports into Korea. Korean imports of similar products into Canada would be $200,000 to $300,000, so we have a significant trade surplus with Korean spirits.

International Trade committee  I certainly don't believe that the Irish and the U.K. governments are directly subsidizing. I know that they have broad programs to promote British and Irish goods, as does Canada, and we do participate in those kinds of activities. Canada adopted some time ago a branding strateg

International Trade committee  We are specifically looking to the FTA to help us overcome that 20% tariff into Korea. That would be a specific outcome of a successful conclusion. Do you want to add something?

International Trade committee  I would point out that we think Canada should be aggressive on negotiating these bilateral arrangements to the extent that it can. The WTO process has been disappointing, I think, to a lot of people. I'm not going to get into it here, but the fact of the matter is that America,