Softwood Lumber Dispute

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States is an important trade dispute and how the disagreement between countries originated in the countervailing duty investigation by the US authorities in 1982/83. It looks at how The US countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber were based on the allegedly below-market fees charged by some Canadian provinces for stumpage rights granted to Canadian softwood lumber producers on Crown lands and how this marked the beginning of over two decades of allegations, investigations and imposed penalties by the United States.

From the Paper:

"The current lumber dispute between nations began in 1982, when lumber companies in the United States were faced with financial difficulties due to the recession. The US lumber industry petitioned the US government to impose tariffs against Canadian softwood lumber imports under the provisions of US countervailing duty law (Yin, 2004). The Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports (CFLI) filed a countervailing duty petition against softwood lumber from Canada, alleging that Canadian federal and provincial governments were subsidizing softwood lumber production by selling the right to cut timber on public lands at artificially low prices (Schwindt, 2004). The petition was taken to the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to determine if imported lumber from Canada was directly or indirectly subsidized by the Canadian government (Yin, 2004). In 1983, the International Trade Association (ITA) of the Department of Commerce concluded that the amount of subsidies was less than 0.5% and that Canadian stumpage programs did not amount to countervailable subsidies (Yin, 2004). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, G. (2004). The canada-united states softwood lumber dispute: where politics and theory meet. Journal of World Trade, 38(4), 661-699.
• Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, (October 17, 2006). Softwood Lumber Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America - 2006. Retrieved March 20, 2009, from Softwood Lumber Web site: http://www.international.gc.ca/controls-controles/softwood-bois_oeuvre/other-autres/agreement-accord.aspx
• Lee, Y. (2002). Revival of grey-area measures? the us-canada softwood lumber agreement: conflict with the wto agreement on safeguards. Journal of World Trade, 36(1), 155-165.
• Makarenko, Jay (June 10, 2008). The Canada-US Softwood Lumber Dispute. Retrieved March 20, 2009, from Mapleleafweb Web site: http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/the-canada-us-softwood-lumber-dispute#history
• Rahman, S. O., & Devadoss, S. (2002). Economics of the us-canada softwood lumber dispute: a historical perspective. The Estey Center Journal of International Law and Trade Policy, 3(1), 29.

More papers on Softwood Lumber Dispute:

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• Analytical Essay # 129827 : "The Softwood Lumber Dispute in a Canadian Context"

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