Back to Basics: The Predestined Failure of NAFTA Chapter 19 and Its Lessons for the Design of International Trade Regimes
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BACK TO BASICS: THE PREDESTINED FAILURE OF NAFTA
CHAPTER 19 AND ITS LESSONS FOR THE DESIGN OF
INTERNATIONAL TRADE REGIMES
INTRODUCTION
Canadian House of Commons member Peter Julian described it as a
complete punch to the stomach ... a shock.' Trade expert Gordon Ritchie
called it a bribe to bring peace to the industry.,2 Trade lawyer Elliot Feldman
dubbed it a historic, unprecedented, astounding intrusion into American
politics.'3 When compared to other pressing items on the political agenda, few
would expect softwood lumber-the fibrous material used primarily in home
construction-to inspire such provocative and confrontational language.4 Yet,
these quotes were all made in reference to the 2006 Softwood Lumber
Agreement-the accord between the United States and Canada that brought an
end to the most recent chapter in the long-running North American softwood
lumber dispute.
To appreciate how an agreement about wood could prompt such overt
bitterness, consternation, and out-and-out antipathy among politicians and
trade insiders, one must understand a little about the circumstances
surrounding the deal. In 2001, arguing that the Canadian government was
unfairly subsidizing the lumber industry, the United States levied duties on
Canadian softwood lumber imports.5 Over the next five years, the United
1 Deirdre McMurdy, Ottawa's Summer Gets Hotter with NDP's Call for Softwood Debate, OTTAWA
CrTIZEN, July 5, 2006, at A3.
2 Graham Fraser, Will New Lumber Deal Mean Partisan Spending, TORONTO STAR, Aug. 31, 2006, at
A01.
3 Softwood Lumber Deal: Hearing Before the Standing Comm. on International Trade, 39th Parl., 1st
Sess. (2006) (statement of Dr. Elliot Feldman, Trade Lawyer, Baker & Hostetler LLP) [hereinafter Feldman
statement].
4 For Americans, softwood lumber is unlikely to inspire any reaction at all.
5 Monte Mills, Tough Duty: U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Relations in 2001, 2001 COLO. J. INT'L
ENVTL. L. & POL'Y 101, 107 (2001).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/emint22&div=23&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Back to Basics: The Predestined Failure of NAFTA Chapter 19 and Its Lessons for the Design of International Trade Regimes
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