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 Ca

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

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

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  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

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

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 sayi

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 da