The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that the Canadian government and lumber industry argued on Tuesday that American forestry companies have not been hurt by imports from north of the border, as Ottawa tried to persuade an international trade tribunal to lift punitive Trump administration tariffs. The Globe's Adrian Morrow writes that at a hearing by a trade panel under Chapter 19 of the North American free-trade agreement, lawyers for the Canadian industry and federal government said that U.S. lumber producers were thriving before the tariffs were imposed, and certainly did not need any protection from Canadian competition. The Trump administration imposed punitive duties averaging 20.23 per cent on Canadian lumber imports, starting in 2017. The tariffs were upheld by the U.S. International Trade Commission at the end of 2017. Elliot Feldman, representing Resolute Forest Products, said the effect of the ITC's decision was merely to help American companies maximize revenue. He argued this was a misuse of punitive duties. "The law isn't there to increase your profits. The law is there to protect you from unfairly traded imports," Mr. Feldman told the hearing at the American University in Washington.