The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that the U.S. lumber lobby is unwilling to compromise in the Canada-U.S. softwood dispute, a stand that points to a long impasse in the trade battle, says the head of Canada's largest forestry company. The Globe's Brent Jang writes that the lack of progress in renegotiating the North American free-trade agreement also paints a gloomy outlook for reaching a separate softwood deal any time soon, West Fraser Timber chief executive officer Ted Seraphim said during a call with industry analysts Tuesday. The 2006 softwood lumber agreement expired in October, 2015. A group led by the U.S. Lumber Coalition began flexing its muscles in November, 2016, after the expiration of a one-year litigation moratorium, successfully petitioning the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Canadian lumber shipments. A breakthrough to strike a new softwood pact has proven to be elusive. "We would not be optimistic about a settlement in the short term, and I don't think NAFTA helps at all in that regard at this point," Mr. Seraphim said. "The real question at the end of the day here is the coalition ultimately is the decision-maker."