April 24, 2006

The following article is excerpted from the 24 April 2006 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

Canada and the United States appear very close to a historic breakthrough in the enduring softwood lumber dispute.

Industry sources who have been briefed on the discussions told The Globe and Mail that U.S. President George W. Bush called Stephen Harper on the weekend to outline an offer. In it the United States would lift duties on Canadian lumber and return most of the $5-billion it has collected from Canadian lumber companies.

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.

Mr. Harper is particularly anxious to put the lumber dispute behind him before a possible state visit to Washington in the coming months.

Canadian representatives briefed select Canadian industry officials on the key elements of the U.S. offer yesterday, according to a Canadian industry source.

Mr. Bush wants to remove a long-standing irritant from relations with his country's largest trading partner and get a deal before U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman moves to the White House as budget director. Mr. Harper has made repairing strained Canada-U.S. relations a priority.

Canadian and U.S. negotiating teams, headed by Michael Wilson, the Canadian ambassador to Washington, and Susan Schwab, the deputy U.S. Trade Representative, have been engaged in intense negotiations in Washington over the past several days.

U.S. officials would confirm only that negotiations are going on….