U.S. Lumber Law Falls Short, GAO Says

(Journal of Commerce Online – R.G.Edmonson)

Questionable data clouds oversight in U.S.-Canada trade

Congressional legislation has done little to assure the federal government that U.S. and Canadian softwood lumber traders are playing by rules established by a 2006 bilateral agreement, the Government Accountability Office reported. The 2006 Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement was intended to settle years of quarreling over Canadian lumber exported to the United States.

Some U.S. importers – U.S. home builders in particular – benefited from the low-cost lumber imports, but U.S. producers complained they were being undercut, and accused Canadian provincial governments of illegally subsidizing lumber production. The 2006 agreement set quotas on Canadian softwood lumber, and required the government to collect a fee from exporters. Read more here.