U.S. To Dump Trade Law

However, observers on both sides of the border were confident that Byrd would soon officially be dropped after a tough lobbying effort with White House support. It's still unclear what impact the move would have on billions worth of softwood duties in U.S. hands. The five-year-old amendment allows the U.S. Treasury to funnel money from duties on goods from Canada and other countries to American rival companies. The United States has collected some $5 billion Cdn in duties on softwood lumber since 2002 but that money is still being held by U.S. Customs. Canada is demanding it be returned. Canadian officials said Wednesday that some of the softwood penalties already collected could still be disbursed starting in late 2007, depending on the results of ongoing legal battles, and a repeal of Byrd wouldn't change that. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/12/21/pf-1362998.html [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on December 28, 2005]

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