The pact, which expires March 31, restricts US lumber imports from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec to 14.7 billion board feet a year without penalty.
Additional amounts are subject to tariffs.
An unusual coalition of US timber companies and environmental groups is pressuring the Bush administration to negotiate a new agreement to offset the price of cheap lumber imports. This is one of many signs that the largest and oldest trade dispute between the United States and Canada is at a crossroads. The Canadian timber industry and American lumber consumer groups would prefer that the old agreement expire and no new agreement be negotiated. We will be fully prepared to fight any anticipated legal challenges by the US lumber industry. Meanwhile, two typically antagonistic camps, forest products companies and forest activists, are working together for another agreement.