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

To: Snowshoe who wrote (474)	7/26/2002 3:08:13 PM
From: Eashoa' M'sheekha	Respond to of 1293

STRIKE TWO! Here's Another Report.Haven't Had Time To Study These Yet. WTO sides with Canada against preliminary U.S. softwood duties Canadian Press Friday, July 26, 2002 OTTAWA (CP) - Canada won an important early ruling Friday in its challenge at the World Trade Organization of crippling American duties against softwood lumber exports, says Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew. The world trade body ruled the United States erred on several points when it levied preliminary duties worth 19 per cent on imports worth about $10 billion annually in Canadian softwood. "Clearly this decision goes the way Canada had hoped," Pettigrew said Friday. The case is fairly minor in the broader dispute - it involves only preliminary duties slapped on late last year after the last softwood agreement between Canada and the U.S. expired. But symbolically, the win is very important for an industry that has been devastated by the long-running dispute. Ottawa had challenged several of the key U.S. arguments that the American industry has used for years to justify the combined duties that are now permanent and average a total of 27 per cent on Canada's softwood exports. That includes the longstanding claim by the U.S. industry that Ottawa and provincial governments subsidize their forestry firms by charging unjustifiably low timber cutting fees. Canada has always denied that accusation. Canadian firms will interpret the decision as sending an important criticism from the WTO to Washington. And it could trigger new negotiations to get both sides back to the negotiating table to bargain a permanent end to the dispute. Washington's duties have devastated the softwood industry in Canada, which is centred in British Columbia and Quebec but also operates in Ontario and Alberta. Several firms have been forced to shut down and thousands of jobs have been lost. Still, Friday's ruling by the Geneva-based WTO is far from the end of the dispute. Washington is certain to appeal the decision. And several more rulings are expected at both the WTO and under the NAFTA as Canada has filed roughly a half-dozen complaints at those two trade bodies against the U.S. duties. The punitive levies were slapped on by Washington after talks aimed at resolving the dispute broke down last spring

To: Snowshoe who wrote (474)	7/26/2002 6:40:10 PM
From: Eashoa' M'sheekha	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1293

OOPS!MAY HAVE BEEN A FOUL BALL!! SHeesh! Can't they even figure out what the actual ruling was? _________________ Canada claims victory in initial WTO ruling on softwood lumber tariffs. By Matthew Daly, Associated Press, 7/26/2002 17:28 WASHINGTON (AP) The World Trade Organization said in a preliminary ruling Friday that the United States erred in approving stiff tariffs last year on imports of Canadian softwood lumber. Canada immediately claimed victory, saying the decision bodes well for Canadian efforts to block new tariffs imposed this spring that have led to thousands of layoffs at Canadian sawmills. ''Clearly this decision goes the way Canada had hoped,'' Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said Friday. But a U.S. official disputed Pettigrew's account. He called the confidential ruling mixed and said the U.S. prevailed in at least one crucial respect: The WTO ruled that Canada's system of providing lumber producers with timber from public lands is a financial contribution and therefore is subject to countervailing duties such as those imposed by the U.S. The official called that aspect of the ruling ''a victory for both the U.S. lumber industry and the environment.'' An industry group and some environmentalists agreed. ''We are glad the WTO ... did not upset what is obviously a necessary action by the U.S. to address the subsidized destruction of Canadian forests,'' said William Snape, a lawyer for the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife. A spokesman for the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, which represents the U.S. industry, called the ruling an important step toward rejecting Canada's claim that timber cannot be subject to countervailing duties. Most U.S. timber is harvested from private land at market prices, while in Canada, the government owns 90 percent of timberlands and charges fees, called stumpage, for logging. The fee is based on the cost of maintaining and restoring the forest. U.S. timber companies contend that Canada's fees are artificially low and amount to subsidies that allow Canadian mills to sell wood below market value. On May 22, the Bush administration slapped antidumping duties averaging 27 percent on softwood imports from four provinces, contending that Canadian lumber imports threatened the U.S. industry. Softwood exports to the United States have plunged by an average 25 percent since the tariffs were imposed, Canadians say, forcing mills across the country to lay off thousands of workers. Friday's ruling involved a preliminary duty imposed last year. The WTO found that U.S. officials had used the wrong methodology in calculating the tariffs. The U.S. International Trade Commission issued a similar ruling on May 2 the same day it gave final approval to new 27 percent tariffs on imports of Canadian lumber. In what Canadian lumber producers called a partial victory, the ITC ruled that preliminary tariffs averaging 32 percent levied since August were not justified. The ruling required the U.S. government to refund about $1 billion in fees collected through April. A U.S. official, who asked not to be identified, said Friday that the interim report issued by the WTO ''has no impact in any way on any other case'' including the 27 percent tariffs imposed in May. But Canadian officials said the U.S. used similar methodology in setting both tariffs, adding that they were optimistic the WTO ultimately would reverse the U.S. action. A final ruling by the WTO is not expected for at least a month. Softwood lumber from pine, spruce, fir and hemlock trees is used to frame houses. The United States imported $5.7 billion worth of softwood lumber last year, about one-third of the American market.