In a wide-ranging trade complaint to the World Trade Organization which was made public on Jan. 10, the Government of Canada cites almost 200 cases of alleged wrongdoing by the U.S., according to media reports.
But an article on CBC News suggests the crux of the complaint has to do with duties on Canadian softwood lumber. CBC quotes an emailed statement from Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland which said the legal action was in response to the “unfair and unwarranted” U.S. duties against Canada’s softwood lumber producers and part of a “broader litigation” to defend forestry jobs.
“We continue to engage our American counterparts to encourage them to come to a durable negotiated agreement on softwood lumber,” Freeland said in the emailed statement.
CBC reports that U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer issued a rebuttal calling Canada’s case an “ill-advised attack on the U.S. trade remedies system.”
Read the full story here.