A trade panel has been set up by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to assess whether the US has complied with its rulings relating to duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports.
Canada expects to be given the go-ahead to retaliate with its own C$166.45m tariffs if the panel finds the US commerce department has failed to implement its rulings properly. A decision is expected within three months.
In 2004, a WTO panel found America had miscalculated the duties and ordered it to make new calculations. But the commerce department’s subsequent decision to make only small cuts angered Canada.
Canada says it will launch a fresh challenge to the duties under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
