CANADIANS URGE EXEMPTION FROM U.S. TRADE BILL

  A group of Canadian lawmakers from
  Ontario today asked their U.S. counterparts to exempt Canada
  from the mandatory trade retaliation provisions in a major
  trade bill being considered by the U.S. Congress.
      At a meeting of the Northeast-Midwest Coalition, an
  organization of U.S. legislators, David Cooke, chairman of the
  Ontario Parliament's Select Committee on Economic Affairs, said
  the exemption would help trade relations.
      The trade legislation to be considered by the full House in
  late April would require President Reagan to retaliate against
  foreign unfair trade practices unless the trade actions would
  harm the U.S. economy.
      Currently, Reagan can reject trade sanctions on any
  grounds.
      Cooke, a member of the Liberal party, told the U.S.
  congressmen, "I can understand (the trade bill). I think it has
  to do with concerns you have with the other parts of the world."
      "I would suggest to you that we are your best friends. You
  do not have those concerns with Canada and you should sincerely
  consider exempting our country from that bill," he added.
      Canada is the United States' largest trading partner, with
  two-way trade more than 113 billion dlrs in 1985, according to
  the coalition. But the U.S. ran up a 23 billion dlr deficit in
  manufactured goods that year compared to a 14 billion dlr
  surplus in services trade with its neighbour.
  

