Canada Scores Victory in Softwood Fight

(Globe & Mail via CSCB)

Canada won a sizeable legal victory today over the United States Tuesday after a private court settled the first dispute to flare up over the 2006 softwood lumber deal between Ottawa and Washington.

The decision is expected to infuriate the hard-line U.S. softwood lumber lobby, which will likely push for a judicial review of the ruling…

… the point Canada won – whether Alberta and B.C. producers should have been paying higher export taxes in the months after the deal was inked – will save those provinces as much as $75-million in export levies…

International Trade Minister David Emerson, said: “We are pleased that the tribunal agreed with our interpretation that the adjustment factor is not applicable to British Columbia and Alberta. However, we are disappointed that the tribunal did not agree with our position that adjustments were to commence as of July 1, 2007.”

The compete statement from the minister regarding the decision can be found here.