A joint NAFTA panel has given the United States three months to rethink its tariffs on imported Canadian softwood lumber but the saga for Canada's troubled softwood companies is far from over.
A progressive group says it's baffled that the Canadian government has worked at the NAFTA negotiating table to protect a dispute resolution system that allows companies to sue governments, estimating it has cost Canadian taxpayers $314 million.
The United States will continue to hammer imported Canadian softwood lumber, but the U.S. Commerce department said on Thursday, November 2, 2017, that it will impose smaller penalties than originally announced.
The natural resource minister's trade mission comes as Canada confronts the triple threat of a softwood lumber dispute, NAFTA renegotiations, and America's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
The protectionist approach of U.S. President Donald Trump means European companies are looking to "exploit" new opportunities in Canada, the European Union's agriculture minister says.