Canada
Sues U.S. Over Collection of Byrd Funds
Filed on April 29th, the Canadian law suit is also demanding that $5 million
which has already been illegally distributed to the U.S. lumber industry be
repaid. Canada also expects the $4 billion in lumber duties sitting in escrow
to be returned.
Canada is basing its case
on the U.S. failure to respect its obligations under the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for the amendment of trade laws. U.S. law, implementing
international obligations pursuant to NAFTA, requires the U.S. to specify
in any trade law amendment (such as the Byrd Amendment) whether the amendment
applies to merchandise from Canada or Mexico.
Since the Byrd Amendment does not specify either country, it should therefore
not apply to their merchandise. In addition, NAFTA forbids any amendments
to trade laws that violate obligations under the World Trade Organization
(WTO) or other international agreements. Since the Byrd Amendment has been
found to be illegal by the WTO, it cannot apply to Canadian or Mexican goods.
CWT hopes that this case along with Canadian and European sanctions will spur
Congress to action. You can also make a difference by weighing in with your
Representative in Washington and urging him/her to repeal the Byrd Amendment.
We have drafted an email message for you to send. All you have to do is click
here.