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Softwood Dispute: Run for the border
Canada and the United States are the world's largest trading partners, but there's one thing they've never agreed on: softwood lumber. The dispute dates back hundreds of years, but in the 1980s it turned nasty. The U.S. has slapped billions of dollars of fines on Canadian wood, jeopardizing thousands of jobs. The dispute raises serious questions about trade, sovereignty, and the real nature of Canada-U.S. relations.
. a countervailing duty petition alleging the Canadian government subsidized its forestry industry by almost 40 per cent
. an anti-dumping petition claiming Canadian producers were selling huge quantities of wood at prices below what it cost to produce. Atlantic provinces were included in this complaint
. Both petitions were upheld by the U.S. Department of Commerce (a 19 per cent countervailing duty plus an eight per cent anti-dumping charge.)
. In both cases, the U.S. International Trade Commission subsequently determined that U.S. industry had not been injured to date by Canadian imports, only "threatened" - and ordered bonds and deposits refunded. But the U.S. Department of Commerce renewed both duties weeks later.
. Canada appealed both decisions under both the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
. Mill owner Rick Doman petitioned Ottawa to pay the import duties until Canada won its appeals (the mills would have to pay the government if they lost). The plan was controversial, since it was government subsidies that prompted the American duties in the first place, and was not accepted.
. In October 2002, Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal announced a $246-million aid package to help people hurt by the softwood dispute. It included $71 million for displaced workers, $110 million for "community adjustment"; the rest was to fight a pine beetle infestation in British Columbia and to establish a centre for forestry excellence. It did not offer relief for softwood producers.
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: May 22, 2002
Guest(s): David Emerson, Charles Widman
Host: Peter Mansbridge
Reporter: Terry Milewski
Duration: 2:20
Last updated: March 6, 2012
Page consulted on December 12, 2012
All Clips from this Topic
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The U.S. lumber industry demands heavy duties on Canadian wood.
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If at first you don't succeed...
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Barbara Frum puts Canadian and American ambassadors on the hot seat.
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Fifteen per cent tariff strips away Canada's competitive edge and show...
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Canadians are talking tough, but Americans are either divided or not e...
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Canada offers to tax its own wood, and give the U.S. a say.
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An NDP resources critic says Canada has been selling off our forests f...
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Canada's agreement with U.S. has Canadians angry. Americans wonder wha...
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Nakina, Ont. is one of 300 communities whose very existence is threate...
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After five years of voluntarily taxing its own wood, Canada says "enou...
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Stoking the fires of an old fued.
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Gordon Ritchie says the new 14.48 per cent import duty is an outlandis...
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U.S. loses final free trade appeal.
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Canada agrees to impose a national tax on lumber exports, heading off ...
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Canada has negotiated a truce with the U.S. Now it faces a civil war.
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Softwood dispute is "live or die" for historic sawmills in Darrington,...
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Another blow to the troubled softwood industry threatens survival of l...
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Pierre Pettigrew can't strike a deal to head off duties totalling almo...
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Rick Doman asks Ottawa to cover U.S. duties.
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The return of crushing import duties prompts a race to dump Canadian w...