Canada Fights Back: Attacks U.S. Trade Practices in WTO Complaint

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Canada is fighting back against U.S. measures aimed at allegedly unfair trade practices.

Canada has launched a wide-ranging trade dispute with the U.S., asking the World Trade Organization (WTO) to examine the application of trade sanctions against a number of countries. These include duties applied to Canadian lumber and paper, which the U.S. has alleged is unfairly subsidized. The U.S. has taken similar measures against jets made by Canada’s Bombardier, imposing a 219.63 percent tariff to counter-balance subsidies the company receives from Canada.

But the complaint does not stop there. Canada’s 32-page complaint to the WTO cites almost 200 examples of alleged wrongdoing by the U.S., many of which have nothing or little to do with Canada. In fact, it cites U.S. sanctions and other measures directed at China, India, and the European Union even more frequently than measures aimed at Canada.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said the complaint is “ill-advised” and called Canada’s claims “unfounded.”

“Canada’s claims are unfounded and could only lower U.S. confidence that Canada is committed to mutually beneficial trade,” Lighthizer said.

Representatives from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are scheduled to meet this month in Montreal for the next round of NAFTA renegotiations. Canada’s WTO move is likely to make those talks even more heated, according to people familiar with the U.S. position in the negotiations.

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