Making a bad deal worse

The Globe and Mail has an update on the Cons' softwood lumber capitulation, featuring two new details. First, Canada's concessions apply to some productions which were never subject to an export duty even when the U.S.' illegal tariffs were at their worst:

(L)umber remanufacturing companies who make everything from siding to flooring are upset that some of the products previously exempt from duties are now captured by the agreement.

“This deal is a terrible deal,” said Michael Wiggin, who operates century-old Wynndel Box and Lumber Co., a family-run sawmill and remanufacturing operation in the southern B.C., Interior.

“There has been virtually zero meaningful consultation with industry. They're hanging the remaners out.”

Second, having already sold out once, the Cons are now trying to push to impose another artificial deadline this Sunday which should lay the groundwork for even more concessions:

Sources say Ottawa has told the U.S. government it wants the text in hand by Sunday because it needs to pass legislation enabling it to impose a border tax on lumber exports destined for the American markets before the House rises June 23...

One source said the Canadian timetable plays into U.S. hands, allowing American negotiators to hold out until Sunday, then make some last-minute concessions on marginal issues so Canada can argue it got the best deal it could.

To the extent that the Cons are using the end of the legislative session as such a deadline, it's not hard at all to call BS for a couple of reasons: first it surely shouldn't be much tougher to pass a bill enabling the government to set any relevant terms through regulation later on rather than having to pass the specifics immediately, and second because it shouldn't be the end of the world to extent the Parliamentary sitting long enough to avoid any additional giveaways.

But then, it's been clear all along that the Cons are more interested in being able to claim they've brokered a deal than in getting a reasonable outcome for Canada. And it shouldn't be much surprise that the excuses are no better now than they were than when the first agreements were reached.