Will The Softwood Lumber Dispute Ever End?

As promised, the disputes resolution panel of the North American Free Trade Agreement made a finding on the two decades old softwood lumber dispute. Unfortunately the finding created more questions than it answered, as both sides are claiming victory.

According to the CBC News the panel did find that the way the Canadian government prices stumpage fees is a subsidy to Canadian producers. By selling this subsidized Canadian lumber in the United States, Canadian producers were found to be dumping lumber into the United States below cost. The decision was not a complete loss for the Canadians, as the panel found many errors with calculations made by the U.S. Commerce Department and gave the department 60 days to correct those mistakes. These corrections may cause the eight percent anti-dumping duty placed on Canadian softwood lumber to be reduced.

To learn more about the history of the dispute and the issues involved, please see "The Softwood Lumber Dispute".