Softwood lumber deal possible, but 'not there yet,' says Freeland

Trump's comments followed a 45-minute televised excoriation of Canadian trade practices by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, as well as an announcement of new tariffs targeting Canada's important lumber industry.

The late-night television personality lampooned Canada's polite response to Trump's claims that Canada's lumber and dairy policies have been "rough" on the USA or a "disgrace" that is hurting US dairy farmers.

Mr Ross said the twin disputes underline the problems with the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) linking the USA with Canada and Mexico, which Mr Trump has vowed to renegotiate.

In February, Mr. Trump appeared alongside Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House and called their trade relationship "outstanding", promising a "very fair deal" for both Mexico and Canada.

Elsewhere in foreign policy, Daughter-in-Chief-Who-Should-Never-Be-Booed Ivanka Trump traveled to Berlin for a women's conference, making her, in Colbert's assessment, "the first Trump to attend a women's conference that didn't include a swimsuit competition". It's roots lie in the fact that while forest lands in the USA that are being harvested are owned by lumber companies, forest lands in Canada are largely owned and subsidized by the government charging low royalty rates for tree harvesting.

Yurkovich says they are confident that Canadian lumber producers have done nothing wrong and if need be they are willing to go to the world trade courts. American lumber mills complain that most of the timber used by Canadian rivals is bought from government forests at below-market prices. Regarding the overall trade balance previous year with the USA, which was $85.2 billion, the softwood lumber balance would account for 6.5%.

He tells WDET's Quinn Klinefelter that concern over trade issues between the USA and Canada is nothing new.

Trump has said he intends to renegotiate NAFTA, the pact that has governed commerce across the border for more than 20 years.

Since launching his bid for president, Trump has repeatedly criticized the nation's trade deals, especially NAFTA, saying the agreement signed in 1994 has been a "disaster" and allowed many U.S.jobs to shift to Mexico.

"He (said on the call) he was very much thinking about canceling and I highlighted quite frankly. that a disruption like canceling NAFTA, even if it theoretically eventually might lead to better outcomes, would cause a lot of short and medium-term pain", said Trudeau.

The escalation - in words and deeds - represented the biggest rupture in relations since 2003, when Canada said it would not take part in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Ross dismissed the idea that USA home prices would go up exclusively as a result of lumber tariffs, saying that the total cost of a home depends much more on the land than the product used to build the home.

United States timberland prices edged up 0.1% in the first three months of 2017, the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) said, after remaining stagnant a year ago. For softwood lumber, the countries have had a once-a-decade cycle of tariffs, trade litigation and ultimately settlements.

USA dairy producers were previously sending ultra-filtered milk to Canada without being subject to heavy tariffs.