U.S., Canada Said to Extend Agreement Covering Softwood Lumber Shipments

Canada and the U.S. have agreed to extend their softwood lumber accord for two years, according to two people familiar with the matter.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast will announce today in Washington that the agreement will be extended to 2015, the people said on condition they not be identified because the extension has been publicly announced.

After two decades of legal fights and diplomatic discord over Canadian lumber exports to the U.S., the two governments negotiated an export-tax system in 2006 that includes limits on Canadian subsidies to domestic lumber producers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Badertscher at pbadertscher@bloomberg.net