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OTTAWA - (Web posted March 13, 2002 @ 5:30
p.m.) - International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew and his provincial
colleagues say they are unified in their efforts to get a softwood lumber deal
with the Americans.  As
they met in Ottawa on Wednesday, however, some industry stakeholders wondered if
Canada would be able to get a deal by March 21.
That's
the date when the U.S. Department of Commerce could make a 19.3 per cent
countervailing duty on Canadian softwood lumber imports permanent. Representatives
from both countries are scheduled to resume negotiations on Thursday in
Washington. Last year the U.S.
administration slapped heavy tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber products, after
the American lumber lobby argued
Canada subsidizes its industry and dumps the products south of the border at
below market value. During a
press conference on Wednesday, Pettigrew was asked to respond to accusations by
some Ontario forestry interests that there's not enough time to get a deal
completed by March 21. "Ninety-five
per cent of industry and all of the governments in this country believe that it
is possible to have a good deal in the next few days," Pettigrew said. "So
you can focus on one isolated voice there, but I can tell you that what we have
been hearing today is we should spare no effort at trying to get a good deal for
Canada."
The minister has said that before, but this
time Pettigrew had Mike de Jong, British Columbia's Minister of Forests, and
Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources John Snobelen to back him up.
"We are strongly united," de Jong
said, who conceded he didn't always think that way.
"If you had asked me nine months ago
whether we we're going to come out of the dressing room for the third period
this strongly united I might have been sceptical."
Snobelen added that he's not concerned at
reports that Ottawa may impose a domestically imposed export duty to appease the
Americans.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who is
expected to raise the softwood lumber issue with President George W. Bush on
Thursday in Washington, also spoke about softwood lumber in the House of Commons
on Wednesday.
"We want the Americans to respect the
free trade agreement we have with them on all aspects, including softwood
lumber," Chretien said.
Pettigrew's confident the meeting will help
the Canadian cause.
"In the U.S. it has been very difficult
to bring enough profile to the softwood lumber dispute," he admitted. "So
when the prime minister tells the president of the United States this is a
priority for the Government of Canada, it raises the profile of the issue in
Washington."
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