In a letter today, Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) of the Senate Finance Committee urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to negotiate a softwood lumber trade deal with Canada that would lessen the harmful impact of subsidized Canadian lumber imports on the U.S. economy. The Senators’ letter also expressed strong support for fair competition and the enforcement of existing U.S. trade laws.
“The U.S. Lumber Coalition applauds the efforts by members of the Senate Finance Committee to push for a fair trade deal, especially the letter’s provision calling for a clean quota agreement to hold Canada to its commitments and maintain a stable, enforceable system,” U.S. Lumber Coalition spokesperson Zoltan van Heyningen said. “We applaud the Senators for speaking up on behalf of the over 350,000 hard-working men and women in the American lumber industry. An equitable trade deal will ensure that U.S. lumber companies can compete on a fair playing field, and start to mitigate the damages of subsidized Canadian imports.”
more detail at: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-lumber-coalition-applauds-senate-finance-committee-members-push-for-fair-trade-agreement-with-canada-300493653.html