Ottawa floats proposal for five-year deal to end Canada-U.S. lumber war - canada.com

The deal would see Canada imposing its own export tax on most lumber headed to U.S. markets in return for Washington cancelling lumber duties costing the industry about $150 million a month.

The tax would be lifted once the U.S. Commerce Department is satisfied the provinces have implemented changes to their forestry policies to eliminate perceived subsidies that support lumber exporters.

The deal would also require the United States to refund more than $4 billion in countervailing and anti-dumping duties collected since May 2002, plus interest.

Why this amuses me. What the provinces subsidize, the national government taxes in order to collect taxes on which it would otherwise pay taxes on to the U.S. government.

No word on whether Ottawa plans to keep the provinces whole by a transfer of the tax revenue back to the provinces.