"What started off as something that appeared to be wired by the two federal governments committed to making a deal this week no matter what has disintegrated into 'well it's too embarrassing for either side to call it off so we'll go ahead but we don't really know what we're doing'."
A spokesman for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative would not comment on the negotiations. The United States and Canada have been fighting for years over some $6 billion a year in softwood lumber that Canada ships across the border to the United States.
The U.S. has slapped countervailing and anti-dumping duties of more than 27 percent on Canadian spruce, pine, fir and other wood imports used to build and remodel houses. Washington and the U.S. lumber industry claim Canada unfairly subsidizes its softwood producers.
Canada has denied U.S. allegations. The timber industries in the two countries operate differently, with a large portion of Canadian lumber coming from public forests while U.S. production is virtually all from privately owned land.
The U.S. negotiator in this week's talks will be Jim Mendenhall, the source said. Canada will be represented by Paul Tellier, former head of Canada's national railways and rail and aerospace company Bombardier, and Gordon Ritchie, one of the main negotiators in the original free trade agreement.
The row has resulted in numerous trade panel reviews, rulings and appeals -- the latest of which is expected at the end of July or the beginning of August.
The Bush administration filed an "extraordinary challenge" to a decision last year by a North American Free Trade Agreement panel, which upheld two earlier decisions that U.S. companies will not be harmed by imports of Canadian lumber.
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2005-07-18T185201Z_01_N18255342_RTRIDST_0_CANADA-TRADE-LUMBER-COL.XML
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on July 19, 2005]
Note: http://ca.today.reuters...
US, Canada Lumber Talks Stagger Into Day
Posted on Tuesday, July 19 at 09:52 by jensonjContributed By
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The only thing that should be negotiated is how fast we get our money back from paying the illegal anti dumping duties. Yet since they have that nutty Byrd Law I guess we are not going to get any of that money back.
Maybe its time we stop relying on the US to sell our Lumber (and beef) too and start to find other trading partners that will honour trade deals that are signed.
Credit Suisse First Boston report noting continued U.S. losses at trade panels. The U.S. Department of Commerce "understands that the laws and treaties make it impossible for Canada to `win' in the real world, even if they win every time in court. It takes years to get through the courts, and by the time you do, the tariffs, duties and quotas the U.S. has imposed have completely wrecked the targeted industry in Canada. So who cares what the courts say."
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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.
Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.
And that is the key. Once the industry is wrecked, who do you think is there to buy the pieces at fire sale prices?
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"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill
The hard work, effort, energy, livelihoods lost, peoples lives being destroyed and along with everything they own.
No Politician ever stands up and addresses these issues nor do they seek compensation for this suffering endured by Canadian Citizens.
When do Canadians get protection from these attacks on our Businesses and Industries?
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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.
Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.
Forgein ownership is best under the European model of limits on ownership of business and land by non-citizens. Even the US woke up to this when the Japanese were buying anything of value in the 80's.
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"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill
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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.
Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.
"Canada is running scared of winning. They are fearful that the United States then won't obey the results and that that would create a crisis in NAFTA. So the Canadian theory is (that it's) better not to have a crisis."
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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.
Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.
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Dave Ruston