One of the world’s longest-running trade disputes is the disagreement between the United States and Canada regarding softwood lumber. …Commerce’s latest antidumping and countervailing duties will not become permanent until and unless the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) finds that imports of Canadian softwood lumber are materially injuring, or threaten to materially injure, the U.S. domestic softwood lumber industry. The ITC is scheduled to make this determination around Dec. 18. …Litigation will certainly be the next step. Canadian producers and exporters of softwood lumber are sure to assert that commerce’s antidumping and countervailing duty determinations, as well as probably the ITC’s injury determination, violated U.S. law. …The final implication of the softwood lumber cases is what impact they may have on the talks to renegotiate NAFTA. …The greatest impact of the dispute most likely will be on the negotiation of whether to retain the Chapter 19 binational panels in NAFTA.