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American Lumber Coalition Accuses Harper Government of Duplicity in Subsidies Dispute |
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Written by Wire Services
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Thursday, 13 April 2006 |
The Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports applauded a World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body decision today that rejected Canada's request that it find that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) erred in ruling that United States lumber producers are threatened with material injury by imports of dumped and subsidized softwood lumber from Canada.
The Appellate Body found fault with a lower WTO panel's approach to evaluating the ITC determination, but it denied Canada's request that it find that the ITC determination was invalid.
Coalition For Fair Lumber Imports Chairman Steve Swanson stated, "This once again reinforces that NAFTA panels are the odd men out in this dispute. The U.S. government has repeatedly shown that Canadian lumber imports are unfairly traded and threaten U.S. sawmills and workers with injury. And the WTO has repeatedly rejected Canada's attacks on the U.S. findings."
Turning to recent comments by Canadian officials, Mr. Swanson continued that, "it is completely contradictory, and an insult to everyone's intelligence, for Canadian governments to say out of one side of their mouth that they are not subsidizing Canadian lumber producers while simultaneously announcing additional multi-billion dollar subsidies out of the other. On top of that, they appear to be threatening new subsidies if the United States does not drop its efforts to address the old subsidies. This has got to stop."
"All we have ever requested is that the market decide competitive outcomes in the lumber sector. Until Canada ends its unfair practices, the U.S. lumber industry will never stop insisting that action be taken under the U.S. trade laws to fully offset the subsidies and dumping. It is that simple," said Mr. Swanson. He concluded by adding that "Canada should stop using a flawed NAFTA panel process to claim that its lumber industry is not subsidized, and instead focus its efforts on implementing meaningful reforms of the Canadian timber
market with a goal of free and fair trade."
The Canadian producers continually deny the U.S. Lumber industry's claim that the Canadian softwood export business is subsidized. Trade Minister David Emerson said earlier this week, "The next short while is going to be critical and it's a time where we're going to be cautious not to destabilize the relationship that is being cultivated with the United States but at the same time, we are going to stand behind our industry both legally and financially." Emerson announced a plan this week preparations for an aid package that will include loan guarantees for struggling softwood lumber producers, a plan that will be put in motion if political efforts aimed at solving the softwood trade dispute fall apart.
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