Abstract
The paper explores three questions which all seek to place the recent softwood lumber agreement within the context of the current free trade regime between Canada and the United States. Particularly, the paper looks at what the recent agreement means for Canada in general, as well delineating why free trade is seen in some quarters as a terrible thing for Canada while other groups feel free trade with the United States is desirable and necessary.

From the Paper
"Describe the proposed Softwood Lumber Agreement, how the interests of the federal and provincial governments differ, and the respective roles of the federal and provincial governments in implementing the agreement. Answer: As with most trade issues involving Canada and the United States, it appears at first glance as though the Softwood Lumber Agreement was designed to help Canadian exporters gain entry into America despite U.S. protectionist sentiment and despite the fact that U.S. lobbyists are not usually comfortable with foreign goods entering the domestic market that..."

Tags:softwood, lumber, agreement

Abstract
This paper consists of three fixed questions addressing the Canada-US softwood lumber dispute and the new 2006 Agreement. The paper addresses the different interests and functions of the provincial and federal governments, Canadian goals in joining NAFTA and what the softwood dispute seems to imply about how well it serves Cdn interests, and the BC Lumber Trade Council as an example of a public interest group both representing the lumbering industry and advising the BC and federal governments on how to proceed. This question also explores the impact of slowed lumbering and tariffs and the resolution to accept the 2006 agreement.

From the Paper
"The 2006 new Softwood Lumber Agreement between Canada and the United States will reflect the different interests of the provincial and federal governments as well as their different roles in implementing the Agreement. (Beg Et Al: 2003) The larger Canadian political environment that shapes the thinking of both the provincial and federal levels of government has to do with a still insecure feeling in Canada as its economy just managed to survive the 1990s Recession. Brean noted how this has influenced Canadian official reactions to new phenomena such as the..."

Tags:softwood lumber, dispute, public interest group

Abstract
The paper looks at how the proposed agreement between Canada and the United States to resolve the softwood lumber dispute has a number of provisions binding both the United States and Canada. The paper explains that it ensures that for at least seven years, Canadian softwood lumber exporters will have access to up to 34 percent of the United States market in this industry, and it also requires that the United States return 78 percent of the $5 billion it has collected in countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Canadian lumber exports since May 2002. In addition, the paper relates that the agreement requires that Canada impose an export tax on softwood lumber sent to the United States if the price of this lumber drops below $355 per thousand board feet. Finally, the paper discusses how the agreement notes that the Atlantic provinces of Canada are exempt from the agreement.

From the Paper
"The proposed agreement between Canada and the United States to resolve the softwood lumber dispute between the two countries has a number of provisions binding both the United States and Canada. It ensures for at least seven years that Canadian softwood lumber exporters will have access to up to 34 percent of the United States market in this industry. It also requires that the United States return 78 percent of the $5 billion it has collected in countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Canadian lumber exports since May 2002. In addition, the agreement requires that Canada..."

Tags:busines, canada, trade

Abstract
The paper discusses how the proposed Softwood Lumber Agreement between Canada and the United States represents the latest effort at resolving a longstanding trade dispute between Canada and the United States. The paper relates that the agreement will be of seven years duration with the option of being extended for two more years. The paper also discusses how the government of the United States agrees that it will not investigate any complaints related to softwood lumber, and will dismiss all current trade actions, complaints and investigations. The paper further points out that the United States will return more than US$4 billion in duties collected from Canadian lumber exporters since 2002.

From the Paper
"The proposed Softwood Lumber Agreement between Canada and the United States, whose final text was agreed upon on July 1, 2006, represents the latest effort at resolving a longstanding trade dispute between Canada and the United States. The agreement will be of seven years duration with the option for being extended for two more years. Under the agreement the government of the United States agrees that it will not investigate any complaints related to softwood lumber, and will dismiss all current trade actions, complaints and investigations. The United States will also return more than US$4 billion in duties collected from Canadian lumber exporters..."

Tags:canada, us, softwood

Abstract
The paper relates that the proposed softwood lumber agreement is designed to resolve the long standing trade dispute between Canada and the United States. The paper explains why Canada's primary objective with the proposed agreement is to liberalize trade. The paper explores whether Canada's interests are being served by this agreement. The paper looks at an important interest group, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) that supports Canada in this dispute.

Outline:
The Proposed Agreement
Interest Groups

From the Paper
"The proposed softwood lumber agreement is designed to finally resolve the long standing trade dispute between Canada and the United States. It has provisions that are beneficial for Canada and provisions that are beneficial for the United States."
"The major benefit for the Canadian industry is the fact that the agreement would result in the elimination of the trade barriers currently in place. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's website states,
"The U.S. will revoke the CVD and AD orders on Canadian softwood lumber imports and stop collecting deposits"(Anonymous www. international.gc.ca/eicb/softwood/basic-terms-en.as). This would mean that the trade barriers erected by the United States would be essentially eliminated.""

Tags:economy, trade, barriers, tariffs, duties, NAHB, policy, interest, groups

Abstract
The paper relates that the Softwood Lumber Agreement was introduced in 1996, and established the rules governing export for the following five years. The paper looks at how this agreement marked the latest point in a dispute that has been unremitting for two decades. The paper discusses the core issue that concerned stumpage fees charged to Canadian firms that remove lumber from Crown lands.

From the Paper
"The Softwood Lumber Agreement was introduced in 1996, and established the rules governing export for the following five years. This agreement marked the latest point in a dispute that has been unremitting for two decades. The core issue concerned stumpage fees charged to Canadian firms that remove lumber from Crown lands. The agreement stipulated the limit on the amount of lumber which might be exported to the US annually, and also introduced a system of fees to be used if the exports exceeded the limits. "The main provision was for a free export quota per year of 14.7 billion...""

Tags:interests, trade, disputes

Abstract
This paper discusses the 2006 Softwood Lumber agreement between the United States and Canada. It describes the reasons for the agreement and its implications. The paper also discusses the different interests of the Canadian federal and provincial governments in terms of this agreement and their role in implementing the agreement. It then analyzes Canada's objectives in entering into the two free trade agreements with the United States (the FTA and NAFTA) and how it relates to the Softwood Lumber agreement. Finally the paper looks at the BC Lumbar Trade Council and its role in supporting Canadian interests in the Canada-US softwood lumber dispute.

Table of Contents:
Overview of the Softwood Lumber Agreement
Free Trade Agreements
The BC Lumbar Trade Council

From the Paper
"In this analysis, the advocacy strategy of the BCLTC is not only audacious but is also reflective of the nature of the proposed softwood lumber agreement and the importance of this agreement's structure to the lumber industry in British Columbia. The fact that the organization is willing to go to the extreme step of implying that its members would scuttle the agreement if they do not get what they want in subsequent drafts is political brinkmanship of the highest order. While this power and strategy is unusual for most Canadian interest groups, it is reflective of the complex and long-running nature of this dispute in British Columbia, as well as of the provincial industry's desire for long term stability in its trade with the United States."

Tags:policy, NAFTA, FTA, BCLTC

Abstract
This paper explains that, in the Canadian-U.S.A. softwood lumber dispute, Washington objected to the low Canadian lumber prices; whereas, the provinces of Canada saw their role as regulating lumbering so that the mainly Crown lands on which it takes place are maintained ecologically well. The author points out that the 2006 agreement removed the tariff on Canadian softwood, but also established export taxes that will kick into place should the price of lumber drop too low, thus preventing Canadian exporters from "dumping" or selling lumber in the United States at prices less than what goods cost to produce. The paper stresses that Canada like many Third World countries, is a raw material exporter, subjected to prices and rulings made elsewhere and with whole local or even national economies revolving around particular commodities and their related industries.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Canada's Objectives
The British Columbia Lumber Trade Council
Concluding Notes

From the Paper
"Critics said that there should be no duty paid by Canadian forestry companies, in the first place, that Americans either wanted to buy lumber that they could not produce in the United States to keep up with demand, or they did not. A Duke University expert on international economic law wrote that the 2005 negotiations that have gone before the present Softwood Lumber Agreement of 2006 involved Washington being made aware of having reacted too quickly to the earlier situation. Some Americans realized that they were on 'thin ice' in terms of the position taken against Canadian producers of lumber, by suddenly charging tariffs, in view of the NAFTA."

Tags:nafta, tariffs, globalization, materials, dumping

Abstract
This paper explains that the origin of the dispute between the federal governments of Canada and the United States is the belief of U.S. lumber companies that lumber in some Canadian provinces, such as British Columbia, is subsidized by the lumber coming from Crown lands where its cost is cheaper than if it came from private lands. The author points out that, although Canada disputes this view, it accepted the Canada-US Softwood Lumber Agreement of 2006, which cancels any legal actions and duties with regard to the softwood lumber issue, as a way of resolving the trade problem and returning billions of dollars the U.S. government has claimed in duties over the past five years. The paper relates that the public interest group, the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) did not advocate one policy to government but attempted to work with the government to create a "unified" approach, which best reflects the diverse interests of its member companies.

From the Paper
"Canada had a number of objectives in entering into the free trade agreements with the United States. In general, these different objectives may be grouped under the one overriding priority of the Canadian government, which was to secure open and unthreatened long-term access to the large U.S. market for Canadian exporters. This was an important issue for the Canadian government as Canadian industries in the last decades of the 20th century were growing increasingly dependent upon the United States as their primary export market."

Tags:duties, regional, responsibility, border, free

Abstract
This paper discusses the 1996 Canada-US Softwood Lumber agreement. It describes the terms of the agreement and the differing interests of the federal and provincial governments in the agreement. The paper then looks at the differing roles that the federal and provincial governments play in implementing the agreement. Next, the paper discusses Canada's objectives in entering into the two free trade agreements, the FTA and the NAFTA and discusses how the Softwood Lumber Agreement fits into these. Finally, the paper looks at the BC Lumber Trade Council and what it represents.

From the Paper
" The Council advocated to the provincial and federal governments on the basis of the lumber industry and the best interests of the forestry industry as well as of Canada. The Council advocated finding "a durable, long-term solution to the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute and respect for the rules of trade under NAFTA" (BC Lumber Trade Council 1). The Council also upholds certain aspects of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement along with the interests of the firms in the industry that the Council represents. Advocacy on the part of the Council includes using threats to the federal government. Such threats involve the potential for embarrassment on the international scale along with local disgrace in the event that the agreement is implemented without feedback and influence from the BC Lumber Trade Council. The strategies employed in the advocacy of related to the proposed softwood lumber agreement represent the intensity of feeling surrounding the issues in the dispute. The Council's advocacy measures also are influenced by the extreme significance of the softwood lumber agreement for the lumber industry in British Columbia. The BC Lumber Trade Council also has threatened to sabotage the agreement in the event that their demands are not realized."

Tags:FTA, NAFTA, advocacy, globalization