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Strategies & Market Trends : Fascist Oligarchs Attack Cute Cuddly Canadians -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marcos who wrote (468)	6/18/2002 1:47:24 PM
From: Thomas M.	Respond to of 1293

Wonderful summary of that thread, especially the part about the PMs! Tom

To: marcos who wrote (468)	7/18/2002 9:36:23 AM
From: Tommy Moore	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1293

Strike one! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- POSTED AT 2:17 AM EDT Thursday, July 18 WTO slams U.S. trade law -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By HEATHER SCOFFIELD From Thursday's Globe and Mail Ottawa — The World Trade Organization has condemned a U.S. law that lets American companies keep the proceeds from antidumping duties — a ruling that Canadian trade officials say is a victory in their quest for free trade in lumber and steel. "This is very good news," said International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew. "As far as softwood lumber is concerned, it will be of some help to us." The U.S. law allows Washington to collect duties against foreign companies accused of selling below cost, and then redistribute the money to the U.S. firms who petitioned the administration to take such trade action. Essentially, the so-called Byrd amendment doubles the impact of import duties by not only penalizing the foreign firms accused of dumping, but at the same time subsidizing the U.S. firms claiming injury. The WTO issued an interim decision Wednesday, which told the United States it should eliminate the practice of handing out duties to companies. Most governments keep such duties for their own coffers. The final decision will be issued in early September, and the WTO is not expected to change the decision between now and then. However, U.S. officials said Wednesday they intend to appeal — which will drag the case out until January at the earliest. The U.S. administration distributed $206.8-million (U.S.) through the Byrd amendment last year, of which 2.5 per cent came from Canadian firms, mainly in the steel and magnesium industries. The largest portions of the money were collected from Japan and the European Union, for dumping of mainly ball bearings and steel. A long list of countries launched a WTO case against the amendment. Canada joined, mainly out of concern about what the Byrd amendment would do to the lumber trade. The United States has imposed a 27-per-cent tariff on Canadian softwood lumber exports, a fee that will amount to billions of dollars paid by the Canadian industry that would be redistributed to U.S. companies unless the Byrd amendment is eliminated, Canadian officials said Wednesday. The amendment, Mr. Pettigrew said, is a "dirty trick" that distorts international trade rules. That's because it encourages companies to sign on to petitions that lobby the U.S. government to impose duties, making it impossible for U.S. officials to evaluate objectively whether dumping really is taking place, officials said. The WTO decision will not be popular in the United States, said trade lawyer Larry Herman in Toronto. "It's going to be a very contentious issue in Washington because the Congress does not take kindly to interference from the WTO," he said. "There will be a lot of criticism of the WTO." Even though the WTO appeals process will drag the case out for months, Wednesday's condemnation may dampen enthusiasm among U.S. corporations to sign on to antidumping petitions, he added. A more important decision for the Canadian lumber industry is expected from the WTO on July 26. That decision will decide whether the United States was right to impose countervailing duties on Canadian lumber. "It will be a critical decision for Canada," Mr. Herman said.