(Canadian Press)
Provincial and territorial trade ministers emerged from a meeting with their federal counterpart Thursday united in their hope retaliation can be averted in the ongoing softwood lumber dispute with the United States.
But while federal Trade Minister Jim Peterson refused to commit to a deadline for fighting back, patience among his colleagues is wearing thin.
Manitoba's trade minister said he's frustrated that U.S.
officials are "stretching and extending loopholes" instead of following World Trade Organization and NAFTA panel rulings in Canada's favour."The agreements need to be followed," Scott Smith said
following the day-long meeting in a downtown Winnipeg hotel.
"We believe there obviously need to be avenues that can be followed and appeals to be made, but there comes a day when you can't spin the wheel
forever. "Smith said the Manitoba government supports eventual retaliation, such as counter-duties, but believes there is political will on both sides of the border to resolve the dispute.
Peterson said
earlier this week Canada will not back down in its demand for the United States to refund $4.1 billion in duties collected during the past three years.
Ottawa is expected to ask the WTO to hit the United States
with unprecedented duties because the WTO and NAFTA rulings essentially called its duties illegal. The U.S. has refused to return the duties, maintaining Canadian lumber imports threaten American producers.
Canada is also pressing the Bush administration to abolish the Byrd Amendment, which allows such duties to be distributed to American companies that claim injury. It, too, has been outlawed by the WTO, which has already
approved retaliation in that case. The White House has promised to abide by the WTO ruling but repealing the law is up to Congress.
Peterson said Thursday he's not ready yet to tie himself to a firm deadline.
"We will be in very close consultation, especially with the provinces and territories," said Peterson "They're our partners in this and we need their ongoing participation at the table in terms of precise
measures and when they might be taken."
Alberta Economic Development Minister Clint Dunford was reluctant to speculate on what he called a hypothetical scenario. "I'm not a big fan of retaliatory
measures," said Dunford."I don't think you open borders by closing borders, but of course the federal government and provinces together will have to determine what the best strategy is."
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