Canada pounced on a ruling by a NAFTA panel on Tuesday, claiming what could be a decisive victory in a long and bitter dispute with the United States over its softwood lumber exports.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) review panel rejected claims by Washington that its lumber producers had suffered damage as a result of Canadian imports.
The panel ordered the US International Trade Commission to reverse its determination on the lumber imports, which resulted in the laying of 19 percent countervailing duties on Canadian wood, within 10 days.
The World Trade Organisation had also previously ruled in Canada's favor on the matter, in one of the most significant of a string of reverses for the US lumber industry over the issue.
"Canada is calling on the United States to bring finality to this dispute once and for all," said Canada's International Trade Minister Jim Peterson in a statement after the NAFTA ruling.
"We want to see the US comply with the NAFTA panel's decision on threat of injury, which says loud and clear that Canadian softwood lumber exports are traded fairly."
The dispute has been a key sticking point in US-Canada relations. The lumber industry is a weighty political constituency in the United States as President George W. Bush heads towards his date with voters on November 2.
The United States has vigorously defended its claims against previous reverses on the lumber issue.
The US International Trade Commission, a quasi-judicial US trade body, ruled in 2002 that Canadian imports would increase or depress prices.Agence France Presse
