A Canada-US Softwood Lumber Deal Soon?
The Trono Globe and Mail reported yesterday that a resolution to the softwood lumber trade dispute between Canada and the US is near.
There is one major divergence between the Globe's report and Professor Wonnacott's recommendation. The Globe says,
In a complex arrangement that would include both a quota and an export tax, Canada would agree to cap its share of the U.S. lumber market at one third, which is roughly the current level.... [and] ... the United States would lift duties on Canadian lumber and return most of the $5-billion it has collected from Canadian lumber companies.Interestingly, this is fairly close to what Ron Wonnacott, the Canadian Dean of International Trade Economics, recommended in a confidential paper presented two months ago at The University of Western Ontario. A link to his paper is now available here.
There is one major divergence between the Globe's report and Professor Wonnacott's recommendation. The Globe says,
Canadian officials characterized talk of a deal as "speculation."whereas Wonnacott recommended,
"Any numbers that might arise from this speculation can't be considered fact," said an aide to Trade Minister David Emerson Monday.
The U.S. proposal would leave many key issues subject to future negotiation.
While hope has recently been expressed for an agreement soon, it is very important that this be a long-term rather than a temporary solution.
Category: Economics, International Trade Posted on
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 12:35am
<< main
