Adjunct Professor Matt Gold was quoted in Toronto’s Globe and Mail regarding Trump’s vow to renegotiate NAFTA and its effect on softwood lumber issues.
Matthew Gold, a senior trade negotiator in the Obama administration, said Chapter 19 is the only likely way that the NAFTA and softwood issues would intersect, as a bilateral deal on softwood would be too long to easily incorporate into NAFTA.
“If Trump can get rid of Chapter 19 – or if he can get softwood carved out from Chapter 19 – problem solved,” Mr. Gold said. Still, he said, it wasn’t clear that Chapter 19 is really a problem for the United States: Just because trade tribunals have ruled in Canada’s favour in the past does not mean they will again.