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Softwood Lumber Dispute first arose in 1982 with a complaint by the US lumber industry that low Canadian stumpage rates constituted an unfair advantage. In Canada, provinces own most of the forest resource and administer the rates whereas in the US rates are set at an auction.

Timber Duties First imposed in the 18th century to provide revenue, Britain's tariffs on imported wood were an integral component of the 19th-century British North American TIMBER TRADE.

Wholesalers (also called distributors) buy goods for resale to retailers (see RETAIL TRADE), industrial, commercial, governmental, institutional and professional users or to other wholesalers. They also act as agents in connection with such sales.

A free trade area as defined by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is "a group of two or more customs territories in which duties and other restrictive regulations of commerce... are eliminated on substantially all the trade between the constituent territories in products originating in such territories."

Agricultural aid is the provision of agricultural products or technology by one nation to another, normally by developed to developing countries. Aid will continue to be required because in many developing countries 4 out of 10 persons are malnourished.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization that regulates global trade. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Canada is one of its 164 members. The country plays a central role in the WTO and was also a key member of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade that preceded it. In addition to helping craft the WTO’s dispute resolution systems, Canada is among those countries most directly involved in its trade dispute cases.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) is an inter-governmental trade agreement regulating trade within Canada. It took effect on 1 July 2017. The goal of the agreement was to reduce or eliminate regulations against the free movement of goods, services, and investments within Canada. The officials who framed the new deal said they wanted to ensure that Canadian firms got the same access to the Canadian market as firms from the country’s international trading partners. CFTA also more closely matches the terms of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), which began taking effect in 2017.

An Agricultural Marketing Board is a statutory body which acts as a compulsory marketing agent, performing or controlling one or more of the functions of marketing on behalf of producers of specific agricultural commodities.

International economics consists of two main parts. The first is international trade theory and commercial policy. The second is international finance and balance of payments theory and policy.

Aquaculture is the human-controlled cultivation and harvest of freshwater and marine plants and animals. Synonyms include fish farming, fish culture, mariculture, fish breeding and ocean ranching.

Economic relations between Canada and the US are of paramount importance to Canada.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent organ of the UN General Assembly to promote international trade, with an emphasis on speeding the economic development of developing nations.

The fur trade began in the 1600s in what is now Canada. It continued for more than 250 years. Europeans traded with Indigenous people for beaver pelts. The demand for felt hats in Europe drove this business. The fur trade was one of the main reasons that Europeans explored and colonized Canada. It built relationships between Europeans and Indigenous peoples.

(This article is a plain-language summary of the fur trade. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Fur Trade in Canada.)

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) was originally founded as the Department of External Affairs in 1909 by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The operations, mandate and title of the department have evolved over the years. Although legally incorporated as the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, its public designation since 2015 has been Global Affairs Canada.  The department is responsible for overseeing Canada’s international engagement, including diplomatic relations, providing consular services, promoting international trade and international law, and leading Canada’s international development and humanitarian assistance.

Capitalism is an economic system in which private owners control a country’s trade and business sector for their personal profit. It contrasts with communism, in which property effectively belongs to the state (see also Marxism). Canada has a “mixed” economy, positioned between these extremes. The three levels of government decide how to allocate much of the country’s wealth through taxing and spending.