Prime Minister comes to New York

Normally, this would not be a big deal. After all, the U.S. and Canada are each other's largest trading partners. But regardless of what you think about politics, U.S. President George W. Bush has consistently ignored Canada during his tenure, unlike any recent president, Republican or Democrat. And so Martin hasn't made many trips to the U.S.

Prime Minister Paul Martin made a quick one-day excursion yesterday to New York, where he slammed Washington's decision to ignore a NAFTA ruling that said U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber are illegal. The "duties" have now totaled $5 billion that the U.S. has collected on Canadian softwood imports since May 2002.

Canada, which is not a big fan of NAFTA to begin with, is furious that the U.S. won't abide by NAFTA rulings. The latest came Wednesday, when a NAFTA panel released a fifth report instructing the U.S. Commerce Department to stop charging duties on Canadian softwood. The White House has disregarded all of those rulings, arguing that decisions in their favor from the WTO have higher priority.

Martin said Canada is considering trade retaliation, and will keep up its legal battle and fight for resolution. This is significant because while many Canadians would love trade retaliation, the government has been concerned about possible counter-retaliation.