New Canadian prime minister Paul Martin said he will work with US president George Bush towards free trade in softwood lumber between the two countries.
Mr Martin said his American counterpart had accepted the ultimate aim was free trade. But he did not reveal whether the two had spoken about negotiations to end the current dispute which has so far cost Canadian sawmills C$1.6bn in US duties.
He admitted that liberalising the trade was still a long way off.
Mr Martin called the duties “politically motivated” and against the aims of the countries’ 14-year-old free trade agreement. However, lumber is not covered by zero-tariff commitments in the agreement.
