Wyden, in Ottawa, Calls for New Lumber Quota System
The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, who, like the chairman, represents a state where logging is an important part of the economy, said the U.S. and Canada should return to a quota system to resolve the softwood lumber irritant.
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The U.S. and Canada had managed trade in lumber from 2006 to 2015; the trade remedy suspension agreement ended when Canada felt the terms the U.S. was offering were too protectionist. The suspension agreement allowed tariff-free market trade when the cost of dimensional lumber hit certain levels; when the cost of dimensional lumber dropped in the U.S., Canada had to either restrict exports or charge export taxes.
Canada has been seeking a return to such an arrangement for years (see 2311270048 and 1606300036), and the two leaders of the Finance Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also have long supported quotas rather than antidumping and countervailing duties (see 1707250019).
Wyden, two other Democrats, and centrist Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told Canadian reporters July 21 that they traveled to Ottawa to meet with Canada's prime minister to build bridges.
"We are four United States senators ... here to talk about making sure that in the days ahead we build on a productive economy for Canada and the United States," Wyden said.
"We made it clear that, on a bipartisan basis, we want to work ... with the executive branch in both countries to get some stability back in the economy in the United States and in Canada," he added.
Wyden said building "some sort of quota arrangement" for softwood lumber exported from Canada would build trust between the U.S. and Canada, and he said the prime minister was open to that concept.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., also said she wants to bring back stability to the economic relationship. She also alluded to how the "great strain" the relationship is under has caused a loss in U.S. services exports to Canada, as tourist trips have declined.
"The Granite State sends our greetings and says: We miss you," she said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney put out a readout that said that he and the senators "underscored the significance of the trading relationship between Canada and the U.S., including the important economic impact of Canadian businesses in the senators’ home states. They also discussed the sectors most impacted by the shifting trade landscape and Canada’s recent measures to transform our steel industry. They discussed work to strengthen continental defence and security, as well as Canada’s successes in dismantling illegal drug smuggling and securing the border."
The readout noted that Carney's chief of staff was in Washington last week negotiating, and that Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, will be there this week.