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Softwood lumber dispute
CBC News Online | August 23, 2006

SOFTWOOD LUMBER GLOSSARY
Softwood lumber: Easy-to-saw wood such as pine and spruce used in building.
Board foot: A unit of volume for wood equal to 144 cubic inches, or one square foot of one-inch-thick board.
Countervailing duties: Applied on imports found to be unfairly subsidized.
Dumping: Selling goods in another country at less than what they cost to produce.
Stumpage: A fee charged by Canadian governments to logging companies for the right to harvest lumber from public land.
Disputes on softwood lumber have simmered for more than 20 years, but the most recent conflict boiled over in May 2002, when the United States imposed duties of 27 per cent on Canadian softwood lumber, arguing that Canada unfairly subsidized producers of spruce, pine and fir lumber.
An agreement in principle to end the dispute was reached in December 2003, but it collapsed two days later. The issue went before North American Free Trade Agreement panels and the World Trade Organization several times. Rulings have usually gone Canada's way.
Canada's protracted dispute with the U.S. over softwood lumber finally ended in April 2006 with an agreement that would require the U.S. to return about 80 per cent of the more than $5 billion in duties it had collected on lumber imports. The deal was signed in July 2006, but lumber industry groups in three provinces and the B.C. government said they would not support the final draft agreement. However, after the federal government made some adjustments, provincial governments agreed to support the deal. B.C. came on board first, with Ontario and Quebec following suit.
The deal removes tariffs on lumber, but includes export taxes that kick in if the price of lumber drops. Producers would have to pay an export tax between five per cent and 15 per cent depending on the price reduction.
The agreement remains in effect for seven years, with the possibility of renewal.
At issue...