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U.S. Settles Rift With Canada on Lumber
Workers sort and stack lumber at a Canadian mill. Although the United States has agreed to repay $4 billion of $5 billion in collected lumber tariffs, some politicians in Canada remain dissatisfied.
(By Chuck Stoody -- Associated Press)
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But Harper had campaigned on a promise of demanding a return of all of the lumber tariffs from the United States, a point seized on by his critics.
"Accepting 80 cents on the dollar -- that's a sellout," thundered Jack Layton, leader of the opposition New Democratic Party. "Is the prime minister finally going to stand up to U.S. trade bullying and say no to this slap in the face?"
Graham, the Liberal leader, noted that half of the $1 billion will be distributed to a coalition of U.S. lumber companies for distribution to its members, so the money will "go to the coffers of the American lumber industry to allow them to continue the aggressive attack" on Canadian lumber exports.
Asked how Ottawa could justify accepting the partial return of the duties, Michael Wilson, the Canadian ambassador to Washington, said, "A negotiation is a negotiation. Am I one-hundred percent in favor of everything in the agreement? No. But it meets the objectives we set out in advance," which he defined as settling the dispute and establishing "stable rules" for the Canadian industry.
While Canadian lumber industry associations were divided about the pact, it drew praise from the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, the main U.S. industry group. "We applaud the tireless efforts of the Bush administration officials who negotiated a means of offsetting Canadian unfair lumber practices," Steven Swanson, the group's chairman, said in a statement.
Some major U.S. buyers of lumber, however, attacked the agreement. "We are stunned that the administration would . . . seek to curtail supply and raise prices in a time when the homebuilding market is cooling," said Shawn Conrad, president of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association.
Blustein reported from Washington.
