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Snowe Calls for Trade Enforcement Action Against Canada In One-on-One Phone Conversation with Ambassador Kirk - Ongoing Violation of Softwood Lumber Agreement Threatens American Jobs

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 8, 2010)–U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today in a one-on-one phone conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, urged the Ambassador to act swiftly to address Canada’s failure to comply with the terms of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement and initiate a dispute resolution process. In an already difficult market, U.S. lumber producers, including many in Maine, face continuing unfair competition as a result of British Columbia’s provision of government-owned timber to Canadian lumber companies at an artificially low “stumpage fee,” which represents a fraction of its market value. 

“Contrary to Canada’s commitments under the Softwood Lumber Agreement, British Columbia has continued to flagrantly skirt the rules and reduce public timber prices, disproportionately harming lumber producers in Maine and across the nation. The U.S.-Canada economic partnership will only prevail if both sides live up to their obligations under existing agreements, and as I told Ambassador Kirk during our phone conversation, the livelihoods of working men and women and their communities are dependent upon the federal government ensuring Canadian compliance with this vital trade pact. Time is of the essence. We must act swiftly to enforce the terms of the Softwood Lumber Agreement and preserve the jobs of American forest industry workers.”

As a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade policy, Senator Snowe has long championed policies to level the playing field for American workers. In 2009, Senator Snowe called on President Obama to address the terms of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement during his scheduled meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa. Since then the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Obama Administration’s trade policy arm, has been examining whether British Columbia’s timber price reduction policies are in violation of the 2006 trade pact.