Chrystia Freeland

OTTAWA — Canada has formally joined a German-French coalition aimed at saving the international world order from destruction by various world dictators and autocrats — and U.S. President Donald Trump. The initiative is part of ongoing government efforts to shore up international co-operation at a time of waning American leadership and Trump’s outspoken disdain of institutions created after the Second World War, including the G7, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. …Japan also joined the new alliance. …On Monday, Freeland’s office responded to the WTO’s most recent decision in its ongoing softwood lumber dispute with the U.S. Last week. …”We welcome the recent WTO panel ruling that the United States did not follow the rules in calculating its anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber. …”Canada will be appealing the WTO panel’s separate findings on the U.S. practice of zeroing. …The WTO has ruled more than 20 times that zeroing… is inconsistent with WTO rules.”