US lumber industry spent $160,000 lobbying in 1Q

The Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, a lobbying group formed by the U.S. lumber industry, spent $160,000 in the first quarter lobbying about a long-running dispute over Canadian wood imports.

U.S. forestry companies argue that Canada subsidizes its softwood lumber industry. The two countries settled the trade fight in late 2006 when Canada agreed to limit lumber shipments to the U.S.

However, the slumping housing market has since battered the U.S. homebuilding sector, pushing down lumber prices and squeezing producers. That provoked renewed complaints from the U.S. forest sector about shipments from Canada.

In March, an arbitration panel found that a majority of Canadian wood exports to the U.S. did not violate a 2006 trade agreement. But the U.S. Trade Representative's office said it disagrees with key aspects of the decision.

Homebuilders, meanwhile, have opposed limits on Canadian lumber imports, arguing that trade restrictions increase prices for consumers.

Besides Congress, the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports lobbied the U.S. Trade Representative's office, Commerce Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the White House in the first three months of the year, according to an amended April 29 filing with the House clerk's office.

Members of the trade group include Plum Creek Timber Co., Potlach Corp. and Temple-Inland Inc., according to the filing.