Canada to United States: Trade disputes are hurting you

Associated Press

TORONTO — If you can’t beat ‘em, inform ‘em.

Canada announced Monday it would spend $13 million to tell Americans about trade disputes between their countries, especially the 27 percent U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber.

International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said the campaign would inform Americans how they were being hurt by trade practices of the Bush administration.

Despite having the world’s largest trade relationship, worth well over $1 billion a day, Canada has become increasingly frustrated with what it calls protectionist U.S. policies.

In particular, the Canadian government and lumber industry are angry at the softwood lumber duties that took effect earlier this month. Canada also opposes subsidies for U.S. farmers approved last week, saying they harm the ability of Canadian farmers to compete.

Most of the money announced Monday by Pettigrew (about $11 million U.S.) goes to Canadian lumber associations for an information campaign in the United States intended to promote resolution of the dispute.

"In addition to hurting Canadians, punitive U.S. lumber duties also hurt American consumers, home builders and workers," Pettigrew said. "We fully support our industry in its efforts to bring these damaging costs to the attention of Americans. When they realize that these duties favor the few at the expense of many, perhaps Americans will see the need to resolve the dispute in a reasonable way."

Canadian producers from major lumber provinces such as British Columbia and Quebec say the U.S. punitive duties are intended to protect American producers from Canadian competition.

The American industry contends Canadian provinces subsidize lumber production by charging low fees for harvesting trees on government land.

When the U.S. International Trade Commission gave final approval this month to the tariffs on Canadian imports, American home builders complained the duties would boost the average price of a new home by $1,000 U.S. or more.

Bobby Rayburn, a Jackson, Mississippi, homebuilder and the vice president of the American Home Builders Association, said then that the government’s action "represents a blow to free trade that will create windfall gains for timber barons at the expense of American home buyers."

Canada has said it will appeal the decision both to the World Trade Organization in Geneva and a hearing panel of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada, the United States and Mexico are partners in NAFTA.

Softwood lumber — wood from pine, spruce, fir and hemlock trees — is used to frame houses. The United States imported about a third of its supply, valued at $5.7 billion U.S., from Canada in 2001.