US, Canada extend lumber trade agreement

The United States and Canada on Monday signed a two-year extension of a landmark lumber trade agreement.

The 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement had been set to expire in 2013 and that date has been pushed back to 2015. No changes were made to the agreement.

The Obama administration touted its extension as a victory for U.S. forest workers.
 
“The Administration’s record on softwood lumber demonstrates our steadfast commitment to ensuring fair trade that benefits American businesses and workers,” United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk said.

The SLA, as the agreement is known, provides binding arbitration in a London court for disputes over lumber.

Its proper functioning is especially important to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the two centrist Republican senators from Maine, Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, whose cooperation is key to passing bipartisan legislation.

" Ensuring that Maine’s mills stay competitive is essential to the well-being of the communities they support and the jobs of those who work there," Collins said in reaction. "While it remains necessary for the U.S. to continue to ensure that Canada actually complies with this important agreement, I do believe that the Softwood Lumber Agreement represents important progress in the overall trade relationship between the U.S. and Canada, and it is critical that this framework be extended.”

Baucus applauded the simple extension. “Extending the Softwood Lumber Agreement will maintain a more level playing field for lumber producers in Montana and across the country,” he said.

In the House, Reps. Mike Michaud (D-Maine), Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and 23 other members urged extension of the SLA in October but called for more enforcement in a letter to the administration.

“All our lumber industry wants is a level playing field and an extension of the SLA can provide that. But it is critical that we enforce this agreement. Canadian violations have hurt domestic operations throughout our country. The U.S. must do a better job of enforcement to make this extension a success,” Michaud said Monday.

The United States has sued Canada three times under the SLA for practices regarding lumber exports to the United States. It won trade concessions in the first two cases and the third case, which alleges under-pricing of wood from British Columbia, is ongoing.