US, Canada ink deal to end timber row

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

GENEVA (AFP) — The US and Canadian trade chiefs inked a deal ending a longstanding and bitter 4.5 billion dollar trade row over softwood lumber tariffs.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and her Canadian counterpart David Emerson initialed an agreement following two months of talks in the wake of an interim accord in April.

The deal ends a two-decade dispute over Washington's anti-dumping duties, which were imposed on Canadian lumber after US authorities ruled that its northern neighbour was offloading the wood cheaply on the US market.

After simmering for several years, the dispute took a new turn in 2002 when the United States claimed that Canada subsidized its lumber. Washington has collected 4.5 billion dollars in punitive tariffs since then.

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