Canada-america soft wood dispute

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

I'm canadian. just want to gwt that out of the way so you know who's side i'm on.

 

becuae of the29% tariff on soft wood going into the USA bout 30,000 cnadians in British Columbia alone will lose their jobs, mills will shut down, etc,etc.,etc.

 

today my father and uncles all lost their jobs because of that tariff. alot of canadians are sugesting that we play hard ball too. think we can't? well i do't know if we can but we do provide alot if ebergy and ither things to the states and i bet you'd be less than thrilled if we cut all of that off.

[Guest DrTom]

"... i bet you'd be less than thrilled if we cut all of that off."

 

Yeah, I'm sure the US provides *nothing* for Canada.  We don't export anything useful up there, nothing like that.  Yep, we just tax wood to put hard-working Canadians out of work.

 

Obviously, your close attachment to this case is coloring your perspective.  Many countries have tariffs, and I'll bet more than the US tax exports from Canada.  You might want to look into that in the interests of spreading your invective among all the "guilty."

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Free trade is rapidly becoming the joke that all our governements tried to convince us it wouldn't be, and that's nothing more than a way for corporations to exploit crappy Mexican labour because they are too cheap to pay qualified citizens of their own countries (US, Canada) to do the job and produce a better quality product.

[Guest Some Guy]

"Free trade is rapidly becoming the joke that all our governements tried to convince us it wouldn't be, and that's nothing more than a way for corporations to exploit crappy Mexican labour because they are too cheap to pay qualified citizens of their own countries (US, Canada) to do the job and produce a better quality product."

 

Ok, beleive what you will but a 29% tarriff is not free trade.  Free trade would be no tarriff and Cobainwasmurdered's dad and uncles wouldn't be out of their jobs.  But a few lumber people here in the US might be.  It's kind of double edged sword.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

That's exactly what I'm saying. We only have "free trade" when it benefits the corporations, whereas when it actually creates competition in the world market, the governments impose ridiculous tarrifs and trade restrictions.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

From the BBC.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/...000/1888577.stm

 

The United States has said it will impose an average 29% tariff on imported softwood lumber from Canada in a bid to salvage its ailing forestry industry.

 

Canada quickly condemned the measure and has said it will take the issue before a panel of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

 

"I can honestly say I find the final determination obscene," Canada's International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew told reporters at a press conference following the decision.

 

The US government said it would slap a duty of up to 35% - or an average 29% - on imported softwood lumber products, such as pine and spruce, used mainly in home building.

 

The Commerce Department said it had determined Canada had acted illegally in subsidising its lumber industry by charging minimal fees to log public lands.

 

US officials contend chronic dumping of subsidised lumber - selling at below cost - by Canada has resulted in the closure of 120 lumber mills and the loss of thousands of jobs.

 

Canadian officials deny the charges.

 

American homebuilders denounced the US decision, saying it would harm consumers by making homes less affordable.

 

"If the entire 29% border duties are reflected in US prices, this will add nearly $1,500 to the cost of building a typical new home," said Bobby Rayburn, a homebuilder in Jackson, Mississippi.

 

Mr Rayburn, who also serves on the National Association of Home Builders, says the US government's calculations for determining Canada's forest-industry subsidy were imprecise.

 

Independent trade panels have reviewed Canada's timber pricing on three separate occasions," Mr Rayburn said.

 

"In each case... it was ultimately determined that the Canadian government did not provide unfair subsidies."

 

Meanwhile, American forest-industry officials called on the Canadian and US governments to resume negotiations.

 

Weyerhauser, the world's largest wood-products company, said it is weighing all its options in response to a possible 35% tariff on imports of Canadian lumber.

 

"The decision to impose duties is based on deeply flawed trade law and the extreme demands of a protectionist special interest group of some US lumber producers," said Weyerhauser executive William Corbin.

 

"The right way to solve this trade dispute is to negotiate a long-term, market-driven solution that accounts for broader interests on both sides of the border," he said.

 

Canadian lumber-industry officials say they have worked in vain to secure a reasonable solution to the trade issue.

 

"We have negotiated in good faith and have taken all reasonable steps to solve this dispute," said John Kerr, chief executive of the British Columbia Lumber Trade Council.

 

Mr Kerr represents a large portion of more than 100 firms in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, where logging is a major industry.

 

British Columbia supplies fully half of all lumber production and exports to the US used mainly in home building.

 

The US imports $6bn (£4.2bn) worth of lumber from Canada each year.

 

This latest row over international trade threatens to once again portray the Bush administration as protectionist, following a recent decision by the US president to impose stiff tariffs on steel imports.

 

The European Union has denounced the duties and has petitioned the World Trade Organisation (WTO), demanding subsidies in response to the steel tariffs.

 

Before Friday's decision on lumber, the Commerce Department had threatened to impose tariffs as high as 37%, a figure Canadian government and lumber-industry officials characterised as "outlandish".

 

Canada had sought to have an import tax of no more than 10%.

 

The imposition of tariffs represents a stiff fine for those Canadians involved in the logging industry.

 

Early estimates put the toll on the Canadian lumber industry at C$3bn (£1.33bn).

[Guest Bruin]

Hm, I'm suprised nobody mentioned the Steel industry situation here in the US yet. I think the jobs lost from the Steel Industry is quite compareable to the Soft-Wood industry in CAN.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

While I don't know the specifics of NAFTA i'm pretty sure america is violating it.

[Guest LooseCannon]

I agree Cobain.

 

I just sent letters to my Senators and Congressman expressing my disapproval.  

 

These tariffs will ultimately only hurt the American consumer, and frankly the idea that Canada is illegally subsidizing their lumber industry so that Canadian companies can dump softwood in the American market is laughable and makes no economic sense.  If Canada were really doing this, we Americans should all get down on our hands and knees and thank the Canadian taxpayer for lowering our softwood prices and providing a net benefit to our economy at their own net expense.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

i know up here in bc people are seriously spazing. alot of people are talking about boycotting us owened stores and there's even talk by the unions of blockading the border. it doesn't help that our federal government is treating this as a joke. i know that we benifit greatly from our close relationship with the states but america benifits just as much if not more.

[Guest J*ingus]

I think one major point here is that softwood is a much bigger industry for Canada than it is for the U.S.  Think of it this way: America exports and manufactures, quite literally, everything.  Softwoods are just a drop in the bucket of the U.S. economy.  But Canada?  They don't have nearly as deep or diverse an industrial portfolio.  This tariff could deal a serious blow to their economy.

[Guest The Thread Killer]

My wife and I get into a dispute over my soft wood every weekend.

[Guest Kevin Sullivan Booked My Divorce]

That was great Thread Killer.  Oh yeah, and Canada, just stop sending us maple syrup and crappy music if you are really pissed off.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Damn, now I'll never get Snow's next album...

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

yeah and if canada cuts off relations with america i may never find out if britney and justin are still together...

[Guest Bruin]

Wow, if this didn't turn into a complete pissing contest then I haven't seen one.

[Guest]

As opposed to which other thread precisely?