Canada likely to reject latest U.S. lumber offer.(Newsmakers: reporting on the industry)

* At press time, Canada appeared poised to reject an American proposal to end a long-standing softwood lumber dispute.

The world's two largest trading partners have been feuding over whether Canada's lumber is unfairly subsidized and dumped on the U.S. market. Canada dismisses those allegations and says Washington is trying to protect a less-competitive industry.

Canada sells $6 billion of softwood, such as pine, spruce and fir, to the United States each year, mostly for use in building or renovating homes, and holds about a third of that market.