U.S. panel to dole out (softwood) duty dollars

[tuvor]

Bush to announce non-partisan board, sources say

Peter Morton, Financial Post
Published: Saturday, September 09, 2006

WASHINGTON - Sensitive to accusations of setting up a secret Republican political slush fund, the Bush administration plans to announce next week that a non-partisan foundation will dole out US$450-million in Canadian lumber duties to worthy U.S. causes.

Sources say President George W. Bush will create a seven-member "independent endowment foundation" that will also include several Canadian observers.

The U.S.-run foundation will decide how about half of the US$1-billion remaining in the United States from the softwood lumber settlement with Canada will be distributed.

Under the tentative July 1 agreement, about US$1-billion of the US$5.3-billion collected by the U.S. government in import duties since the latest dispute began in 2002 will remain in the United States.

About half will go to U.S. lumber companies and their lawyers while the rest is earmarked for still vague "meritorious" or charitable uses.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=6f2d2637-2695-4ec5-bcd8-63c18ac85109&k=73655

[daleo]

1. It will be interesting to see who the "Canadian observers" are.

I wonder what the gig will pay.