403 From Senators to the President : Solve the Lumber Problem or Else

This paper uses key events associated in the two decade-long U.S.-Canada softwood lumber trade dispute to present the dynamic relationship between U.S. Congress and Administration in international trade policy. We have found that the Administration responded quickly to several letters from a group of U.S. Senators demanding a solution to the lumber problem. We used a roll call analysis to analyze the factors influencing the senators’ willingness to pressure the President on behalf of the U.S. lumber industry. The results show that the economic importance of the lumber industry in a state, the characteristics of the Senator, and logrolling are correlated with the Senators’ signature on these letters.