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:: Monday, December 27, 2004 ::
U.S. bid to force lumber talks backfired, trade minister tells U.S. official AP, MaineToday.com
The industry and lumber-producing provinces were upset that Commerce used an entirely new method to calculate alleged Canadian subsidies. A method used last June that would have cut the duty rate in half was discarded.
The new method also applied a distinct formula to British Columbia, which accounts for 53 per cent of Canadian lumber shipments to America, using a cross-border price comparison that has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization.
Peterson condemned the approach, as well as continued American unwillingness to abolish the so-called Byrd amendment despite a WTO ruling that it flouts international trade law. The Byrd amendment allows U.S. companies deemed to have been injured by allegedly subsidized imports to receive proceeds of the tariffs.
posted 11:51 AM :: reference link ::
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