NAFTA Injury Panel Decision

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Oct. 5, 2004

NAFTA INJURY PANEL DECISION

Mr. WYDEN. I, too, rise today to share concerns about the recent NAFTA panel decision. Today, the Canadian share of lumber in the U.S. market is reaching record highs. Canada's practice of dumping subsidized timber in our domestic market continues to wreak havoc on U.S. mills and jobs. My own State of Oregon has been hit especially hard, losing over 3000 jobs in the timber industry since 2002. For years now, my colleagues and I have worked with the International Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Trade Representative to help maintain mill operations and keep jobs in our country.

As my colleagues have made clear today, I believe the blatant disregard for U.S. law by the panel will further damage already suffering U.S. timber workers.

Moreover, I cannot refrain from adding, as I watch jobs in the timber industry continue to disappear at an alarming rate, I find recent decisions by the administration to lower the duties, as a result of administrative reviews, to be particularly egregious and out of line. These decisions have exacerbated an already terrible crisis, and weakened my confidence in the administration's willingness to help our timber workers.

Simply put, I believe it is time to move toward a fix for a system that currently appears to be broken.