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| Ontario softwood industry seeks to reopen tariff debate |
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2006/6/14
Two Ontario lumber associations want to reopen the debate on softwood lumber tariffs, just weeks after the federal government reached a tentative settlement with the United States.
The two groups, the Ontario Lumber Manufacturers Association and the Ontario Forest Industries Association, told the Canadian Press on Tuesday that they intend to go to court to force a final ruling on lumber duties under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
They hope to revive an earlier NAFTA panel that ruled in favour of the Canadian lumber industry. The findings of that panel were never finalized, leaving the earlier decision in limbo.
The two federal governments have conspired to prevent Canadian private industry from finalizing a decision of a NAFTA panel for which we fought for four long years," Jamie Lim, president of the Forest Industries Association, told CP.
The earlier "decision should be [made] final and recognized," Lim said. "The United States does not want it recognized and, regrettably, the government of Canada has gone along."
Lim said he is filing the actions in the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals.
David Milton, president of the lumber makers' association, said Ottawa and Washington are violating their obligations under NAFTA.
"There is no such thing as the suspension of a proceeding in NAFTA," Milton said.
The two spokesmen said the Canadian lumber industry must continue to pay about $40 million a month in countervailing duties even though the two countries announced an agreement on April 27 that should have ended the tariffs.
They acknowledged that Canada and the United States have a tentative agreement on softwood lumber tariffs.
But they said they intended to pursue the litigation anyway.
"As long as there is no signed and final agreement, there is no agreement," Milton said. "We must protect our rights as much as the Americans are protecting theirs." |
| Source:http://www.cbc.ca/ |
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