Les politiques forestières du Québec et le commerce « loyal » : le différend sur le bois d'œuvre

Abstract

Stumpage rights on trees from public forests are set in Quebec in reference to prices in the private wood market. In the softwood lumber dispute with the United States, if the US Department of Commerce considered in 1992 that this market was competitive, and thus could be used as a benchmark, it concluded differently in 2002. Yet, it is difficult to establish if Quebec's forest regime effectively satisfies the conditions of “fair” trade, on which the United States insists. Although the new forest regime announced by the government of Quebec in 2008 provides for the auctioning of a significant part of the public timber, it is unlikely to meet the US conditions.