PETTIGREW PRAYS
So much for bravado on softwood lumber. In his annual year end interview, Pettigrew now is openly hoping for negotiations on a new softwood lumber agreement. The view in Ottawa seems to be that the US government was reluctant to entertain the idea because of the upcoming transition from Clinton to Bush. Guess everybody in Ottawa got rose colored glasses for Christmas.
He announced plans to appoint a special envoy to begin building the foundations for a new softwood lumber agreement to replace the current agreement that expires March 31 2001. In practice, this is Canadian diplomatic language for talking our counterparts to distraction if not death.
According to him, both Canada and the U.S. have expressed interest in revising the deal. The Canadian view is that the lame-duck Clinton White House had been reluctant to open negotiations, preferring to leave it to the new administration. The Minister accepts that most US trade initiatives have been virtually moribund because of Bill Clinton's toxic relationship with Congress.
Pettigrew said he is optimistic that President Bush will be able to breathe new life into softwood lumber negotiations and other U.S. trade initiatives.
If life were as simple in Washington as it evidently is in Ottawa, this issue would not be going to the wire, and softwood lumber producers in Canada would not be preparing for the worst: a petition by the US Fair Lumber Import Coalition for a countervailing duty investigation against Canadian softwood imports.
ISSN 1492-7187, TRADE POLICY MONITOR, Volume II Issue 1, January 2001,
copyright © THUNDER LAKE MANAGEMENT INC., all rights reserved.
Profile
Services
Search
Trade Analysis
Updates
Contacts
Trade News
Policy Street
Link To Us
Site Search
| 