The Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement of 2006 : CN Canada - US Trade Forum : the Canada - US Softwood Lumber Agreement of 2006 : the experience of the Western Canadian Softwood Lumber industry under the Canada - US Softwood Lumber Agreement of 2006

It is hoped that the staging of this forum, the publication of the Proceedings, and the preparation of Conclusions and Recommendations, will assist government and industry policy makers and negotiators in the future operation, and potential modification of the Agreement. [...] Ensuring that the agreement functions in a commercially viable manner would require modifications to some of the most troublesome aspects of the agreement including: a. The elimination up the retroactive application of the export tax surcharges applied when exports exceed the surge limits. [...] The government must: a. work in the interests of the Canadian industry; b. devote sufficient resources to the operation, administration and implementation of the Agreement; c. provide all required information on a timely basis; and d. engage the industry more fully in discussions of management and strategy related to actions associated with the Agreement. [...] The second reason for exercising the termination clause in the 1986 agreement was the fact that the Canadian industry had opposed the agreement from the outset and maintained a sustained campaign to have it terminated. [...] The SLA stipulated that of the US$1 billion, half would go to the U. S. Coalition (the source of the harassment under the remedy laws for the last 20-25 years), $450 million was designated for meritorious initiatives in the U. S., and $40 million was designated for initiatives of the bi-national industry counsel established under the agreement.