Dispute Over Timber Fees Settled

Canada and the United States have struck a deal in a dispute over timber-cutting fees in British Columbia just days before a binational panel was to rule in the case, a newspaper reported.

Under the agreement to be unveiled this week, British Columbia will freeze its softwood lumber exports to the United States at the average historic volumes reached before the province cut stumpage rates - the fees it charges to harvest trees on public land - in June 1998, the Globe and Mail reported Tuesday.

Any lumber exports above that level would face a punitive “super” export fee of $146 per 1,000 board feet. That could add as much as 50 percent to the cost of U.S.-bound lumber.

Canada must also compensate U.S. producers for any excess shipments since the lower stumpage rate took effect.