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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: William B. Kohn who wrote (14329)	3/23/2002 12:29:16 PM
From: haqihana	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27720

Bill Kohn, Today, the Associated Press, has reported the Canadian government "subsidizes it's lumber industry by charging low fees to log public lands and allow it's producers to sell lumber in the United States at below-market prices"....

To: William B. Kohn who wrote (14329)	3/23/2002 11:41:10 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27720

American companies pay virtually nothing to log national forests. The USFS loses money on sales to the timber companies. TK

To: William B. Kohn who wrote (14329)	3/25/2002 5:22:15 AM
From: joseph krinsky	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27720

Canadian Lumber Subsidies Talking Points In Canada, Canadian provincial governments own 95 percent of the timber. In Canada, Canadian provincial governments subsidize their lumber mills by 1.) Administratively setting a state-controlled price for trees (stumpage) that is ¼ to 1/3 the free market price across the border in the U.S.; and 2.) By granting Canadian mills tenure agreements under which they are given 20 to 25 year licenses to harvest timber at subsidized prices provided they meet production requirements regardless of market conditions and provided they do not export logs for production in the U.S. or Asia. Canadian provincial governments provide these subsidies for the acknowledged purpose of promoting employment in Canadian mills. Even after these subsidies, Canada is selling lumber in the U.S. at $70-80 below their cost of production. They not only subsidize; they are also dumping lumber under U.S. trade law. Reagan, the first Bush administration and Clinton all took action against Canadian lumber subsidies. The 1996 Softwood Lumber Agreement is set to expire at the end of this month. Lumber prices fell 33 percent last year. An independent forecast (Random Lengths) predicts an additional 10 percent drop if there is no lumber agreement. U.S. mills are now closing at the rate of one per day – thousands of workers are losing their jobs. Timberland values are plummeting. The current agreement has not worked well. Canada has regularly circumvented it. A new agreement must be negotiated and put in place by March 31 or the U.S. must take unilateral action to offset Canadian subsidies. Counter Argument to so-called “consumer” concerns: Using statistics from the National Association of Homebuilders, wood has accounted for approximately 3 percent of the cost of a new home for each of the last 20 years. Also, lumber prices fell 33 percent last year while home prices continued to escalate. Lower lumber prices have just fattened builders’ profits and not benefited homebuyers. google.com google.com