The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the CEOs of Canada's top lumber producers are set to meet today with International Trade Minister Mary Ng to spur the Canadian government to start talks with the United States to resolve the long-running softwood dispute. The Globe's Brent Jang writes that the chief executive officers are seeking to get the softwood file onto the agenda later this month for the summit in Ottawa between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden. Scheduled to participate in a virtual roundtable discussion with Ms. Ng are lumber bosses from West Fraser Timber, Canfor, Resolute Forest, Interfor, Tolko Industries and J.D. Irving Ltd. Others slated to join the discussion include officials from provincial forestry organizations, as well as from the Meadow Lake Tribal Council in Saskatchewan. The 2006 Canada-U.S. softwood agreement expired in October, 2015, with no replacement. The protracted trade fight dates back more than 40 years. In the latest round, the U.S. Department of Commerce started imposing duties on Canadian lumber in April, 2017. The countervailing and anti-dumping duty rates have fluctuated since then. Current combined U.S. tariffs total 8.59 per cent.
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