IMRA TO BUSH ADMINISTRATION: LET SOFTWOOD LUMBER AGREEMENT EXPIRE
The International Mass Retail Association has asked President Bush to let the Softwood Lumber Agreement expire.
IMRA, which represents numerous companies that purchase lumber from both imported and domestic sources, said the agreement adds as much as $1,000 to the price of a house. The CATO Institute estimates the agreement increases softwood lumber prices about 20 to 30 percent.
The Softwood Lumber Agreement was scheduled to expire midnight Saturday.
“We cannot continue to protect domestic producers at the expense of so many ordinary Americans on the mere allegation of subsidies,” said Robert J. Verdisco, IMRA president in a letter to Bush. “We urge you to let the agreement expire, to eschew the efforts to renegotiate some kind of settlement or impose export taxes, and let U.S. trade laws operate as they were intended.”