CLICK TO ON CARTOON TO ENLARGEReutersSaturday, July 1, 2006; 5:46 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/01/AR2006070100677.html
GENEVA (Reuters) - Canada and the United States closed a long-standing trade dispute over softwood lumber on Saturday after ironing out final details of a deal on the sidelines of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks. Canadian Trade Minister David Emerson and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, in Geneva for WTO meetings that failed to achieve a breakthrough on global trade liberalization, initialed the agreement in a late evening ceremony on Canada's national holiday.The deal, reached in a preliminary stage in April, is expected to be formally signed within months with no further changes to the text. "This is a very exciting way for me to celebrate Canada Day," Emerson said, saying the agreement should end "decades of squabbling and trade wars" that have strained relations with the United States in past years. "We are eliminating some of the frictions and irritants. This is a great moment for Canada-United States relations," he said. The lumber dispute centers on U.S. duties imposed on Canadian softwood, which Washington alleged was subsidized and dumped on the American market -- a charge Canada denied. Schwab said the deal, which includes termination clauses allowing the countries to walk away after three years, would temper "a lot of bad feelings" that have arisen between the two trading partners and their industries. Under the terms of the agreement, Canadian lumber companies will get a refund of about $4 billion of the $5 billion they have handed over in duties. Canadian exports would be allowed to continue at the current level of about 34 percent of the U.S. market. In 2005, Canada exported $7.4 billion in softwood to the United States, where it is used in construction markets. Negotiators had been working flat out to reach a final agreement before Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets President Bush in Washington on July 6. Emerson said he hoped the deal would enter into force by October.
GENEVA (Reuters) - Canada and the United States closed a long-standing trade dispute over softwood lumber on Saturday after ironing out final details of a deal on the sidelines of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks. Canadian Trade Minister David Emerson and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, in Geneva for WTO meetings that failed to achieve a breakthrough on global trade liberalization, initialed the agreement in a late evening ceremony on Canada's national holiday.The deal, reached in a preliminary stage in April, is expected to be formally signed within months with no further changes to the text. "This is a very exciting way for me to celebrate Canada Day," Emerson said, saying the agreement should end "decades of squabbling and trade wars" that have strained relations with the United States in past years. "We are eliminating some of the frictions and irritants. This is a great moment for Canada-United States relations," he said. The lumber dispute centers on U.S. duties imposed on Canadian softwood, which Washington alleged was subsidized and dumped on the American market -- a charge Canada denied. Schwab said the deal, which includes termination clauses allowing the countries to walk away after three years, would temper "a lot of bad feelings" that have arisen between the two trading partners and their industries. Under the terms of the agreement, Canadian lumber companies will get a refund of about $4 billion of the $5 billion they have handed over in duties. Canadian exports would be allowed to continue at the current level of about 34 percent of the U.S. market. In 2005, Canada exported $7.4 billion in softwood to the United States, where it is used in construction markets. Negotiators had been working flat out to reach a final agreement before Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets President Bush in Washington on July 6. Emerson said he hoped the deal would enter into force by October.
No comments:
Post a Comment