By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Canadian forestry industry
said on Monday it is seeking a simple roll-over of an expired
2006 softwood lumber export agreement with the United States in
hopes of preventing a fresh trade fight over the product.
Canada and the United States have a long history of battling
over softwood lumber, which in Canada generally comes from
government-owned land and which the U.S. side says is subsidized
or underpriced.
A 2006 agreement that ended the last dispute expired on Oct.
12. The U.S. lumber lobby has taken the position that the 2006
agreement is no longer good enough and is pressing for freshly
negotiated limits on Canadian pine and other softwood.
While Canada has a broader free trade agreement with the
United States and would prefer no limits, David Lindsay, the
president of the Forest Products Association of Canada, said the
industry would at least want the certainty a softwood deal
provides.
The industry group represents major Canadian producers
including Canfor Corp CFP.TO , Tembec Inc TMB.TO , Resolute
Forest Products Inc RFP.N and West Fraser Timber Co Ltd
WFT.TO .
"A roll-over is probably the least painful and would result
in more certainty and less legal and negotiating costs," Lindsay
said in an interview, adding that the United States would likely
launch trade actions against Canadian lumber without a deal.
The U.S. Lumber Coalition put out a statement when the
agreement expired saying that timber and lumber markets have
evolved "and the 2006 agreement is now outdated."
"If Canada continues to stay away from the negotiating
table, the U.S. industry will eventually have no choice but to
use our rights under U.S. trade laws to offset the unfair
advantages provided to Canadian industry," said Charlie Thomas,
the coalition's chairman.
Lindsay said Canadian government officials clearly had
expressed to their U.S. counterparts a willingness to roll the
old agreement over.
Canada's position is complicated by the change of government
that will take place on Nov. 4, following the Oct. 19 Liberal
election victory over the Conservatives. That means Canadian
government policy is largely on hold for now.
(Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Paul Simao)