Not Free Trade, But Not Bad, Says Emerson

However, he suggested repeatedly that Canada had little choice in the matter. "Today, dispute settlement is, I don't want to say it's laughable, but it's not a recipe for a healthy industry," Mr. Emerson told the House of Commons trade committee. "Any time you can be lambasted with 27-per-cent duties and have to pay out that cash, if you're a small operator, for four or five years, you're very fortunate if your company hasn't gone bankrupt by the time you finally get relief under Chapter 19 [the North American free-trade agreement's dispute-resolution mechanism]." Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush have been lauded by trade officials and diplomats from both countries for pushing through the agreement, which will end U.S. duties on Canadian lumber and see 80 per cent of the $5.3-billion collected so far returned to Canadian producers. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060516.EMERSON16/TPStory/National [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on May 17, 2006]

Note: http://www.theglobeandm...