It may be cold comfort to the remnants of Northern Ontario's shattered forestry industry, but Ontario scored a technical victory in the long-running softwood lumber dispute through an international trade tribunal.
The London Court of International Arbitration Tribunal ruled to limit an additional tax on Ontario softwood lumber exports to the U.S. to one-tenth of a per cent.
The provincial government said it's lower than the 20 per cent the U.S. had originally requested. The tribunal rejected American claims that pre-existing Ontario government forestry programs had a significantly negative impact on U.S. wood producers.
In a Jan. 21 statement, Ontario's Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Minister Michael Gravelle was “pleased” with the arbitration decision. “We fought hard to defend Ontario's programs and clearly the tribunal agreed that they provided no significant threat to U.S. producers.”
At issue were government grants, loan guarantees and other assistance in the Forest Access Roads Program, the Forest Sector Prosperity Fund and the Forest Sector Loan Guarantee.
This is one of three arbitration requests filed by the U.S. since the current agreement came into force in 2006. It is set to expire in 2013.
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