The following statement was issued today by Premier Bernard Lord of New Brunswick, Premier John Hamm of Nova Scotia and Premier Pat Binns of Prince Edward Island:
"The decades old softwood lumber dispute reached new levels this week when the three Maritime Premiers and a representative from the government of Newfoundland and Labrador met face-to-face with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans. In the on-going softwood lumber dispute, the Department of Commerce (DOC) has continued to acknowledge the unique status of the Atlantic Canadian provinces. In 2001, the DOC excluded Atlantic Canada from the current countervailing duties case and the 18.79% duty levied against the rest of Canada.
"This past July, DOC Undersecretary Grant Aldonas agreed in principle to the exclusion of Atlantic Canada from an interim agreement had the dispute been resolved by way of a negotiated solution, rather than by the on-going litigation. Recent reports have indicated an erosion of this position and we, the Maritime Premiers, took this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to free and fair trade, and we anticipate the continued acknowledgement by the DOC of our market-based policies governing trade in softwood lumber originating in Atlantic Canada.
"At our private meeting on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., we, the Maritime
Premiers, expressed our opposition to the latest U.S. Lumber Coalition proposal. We again emphasized that we could not accept our producers being included in an export quota system designed to restrict lumber exports from Canada. We pointed out that 75% of Atlantic Canadian lumber comes from private land and the region's producers had been exempted from all previous export taxes and quota arrangements since 1987 because the United States regards Atlantic Canada as free traders in lumber."