by John Greenwood
Negotiators for Canada and the United States have agreed on a new proposal for a solution to the softwood lumber dispute.
The proposal is being mulled over by industry groups on both sides of the border.
“We have found common ground on the parameters of a possible agreement,” said Sébastien Théberge, press secretary for Pierre Pettigrew, the federal Minister of International Trade.
Sources said the proposal, which was hammered out late last week, gives Canadian producers a quota of about a third of the U.S. lumber market before a border tax would kick in.