Emerson plays down leaked U.S. letter on softwood

[tuvor]

Peter O'Neil, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, June 21, 2006

OTTAWA -- International Trade Minister David Emerson shrugged off Tuesday the revelation that the U.S. government will use the planned Canada-U.S. softwood lumber accord as a tool to fight alleged subsidization of the lumber industry by provincial governments.

Emerson said he doesn't see the letter, a copy of which was leaked to CanWest News Service, as a sign of bad faith, adding that Ottawa won't strike a deal that erodes the sovereign right of governments to set their own lumber pricing practices.

"I don't see it as bad faith at all. I think it's part of the ongoing winding road of negotiations," Emerson told reporters.

The letter to the powerful U.S. lumber lobby, called the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, says the U.S. views the accord's purpose is to "mitigate to the greatest extent possible Canadian practices found by the Department of Commerce to constitute unfair trade practices."

"This will be a guiding consideration in the U.S. Government's monitoring and enforcement of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement."

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=794d2d04-a5dd-4eed-927c-fae6b40f613c&k=73817

[MrPrax]

1. This is legit...

Looks like the Tories are no more successful on this issue than the Liberals--maybe because both their strategies patently refuse 'retaliation' as an option so they continue to litigate and negotiate with an country whose actions have been judged repeatedly to be illegal under the trade agreements they signed.

[glarius]

2. Hmmm....Remember the Conservative mantra..."in 13 years the Liberals

couldn't get this done"? They bleat out that phrase about everything. They of course did get it done....but it seems they didn't get it done after all doesn't it?....Harper is like a gadfly....Flitting from one thing to another. Trying to undo everything he can that the Liberals have done. Gawd...I hope it backfires on him....BIG TIME!