Article content

The United States may have turned up the heat on the softwood dispute this week by imposing new tariffs on Canadian lumber products, but sources on both sides suggest the key players are coming closer together and there is renewed political will to strike a deal.

Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian global affairs minister, and Wilbur Ross, the U.S. commerce secretary, have spoken frequently in recent days and while both Canadian and U.S. officials say there remain serious hurdles to a deal — not least of which is the approval of their respective lumber industries — there is an appetite to resolve the issue ahead of North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations later this year.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or John Ivison: Canada and U.S. drawing closer to ending latest softwood lumber dispute, sources say Back to video

Justin Trudeau hinted at the progress being made when he said in his end of session press conference Tuesday that the two sides are “working towards a deal.”

Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press

Two weeks ago, Freeland said the two sides were still “far apart.” On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce added to Canadian lumber prices a new anti-dumping duty averaging nearly 7 per cent, a response to alleged softwood sales at below-market prices. That followed the imposition in April of tariffs averaging around 20 per cent, countervailing duties for what the U.S. deemed unfair subsidies.