Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday the contentious softwood-lumber dispute will top the agenda when he meets with U.S. President George Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox in Mexico this week.

"Naturally, I expect discussions on softwood lumber as a priority. I have already had discussions on this with President Bush." Harper said ahead of the trilateral summit that will take place in Cancun on March 30-31.

He hoped to be able to establish "a relationship with more maturity than exists with the former government in the administration of the United States."

Harper said he was uncertain whether the summit will yield any progress but he believed Bush could do more for the settlement of the long-running dispute that threatens the country's 10-billion Canadian dollars (about 8.6 billion US dollars) export industry.

"I think there is always lots that the president can do. I don' t think that the president is powerless by any means on this particular file," he said.

Harper is also expected to discuss American plans to require a passport or other secure document at land crossings by the end of next year.

Canadian tourism and business groups have expressed their concern that a new identification card being developed in the U.S. is too costly and will severely impede visitors and commerce.

Meanwhile, Bush indicated on Tuesday that he wants to show Canada that the U.S. "genuinely cares" by working to resolve issues such as softwood lumber.

In a roundtable session with journalists, Bush asserted that he is not resentful about some "harsh words" that have characterized the two countries' relationship in the last few years.

"Part of the problem that we had was because of my decision to go into Iraq," he said.

"The government of both countries didn't agree. And I understand that. War is terrible, it's an awful thing," the president said in remarks released Tuesday by the White House.

"I bear no ill will whatsoever and I understand the strategic importance of being close to our friends."

University of Toronto political science professor Lawrence LeDuc says the first face-to-face meeting between the new Canadian prime minister and the American president is always significant.

"It sets the tone in a lot of ways, both for the personal relationship that will develop and also for his administration," LeDuc told CTV Newsnet.

Harper's position on softwood lumber could also help to boost his foreign policy credentials, LeDuc said.

In a major win for Canada just last week, a North America Free Trade Agreement panel eliminated most of the duties levied against Canadian lumber exports. The Americans have another three weeks to appeal that ruling.

The dispute has been festering since 2002, with the American lumber industry accusing Canada of wrongly subsidizing its softwood producers - a charge Ottawa hotly denies.

Washington imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties totalling more than 27 percent in May 2002 and Canada has been fighting to chop them ever since.

Numerous trade panels at both the World Trade Organization and under NAFTA have ruled on the case, sometimes in Canada's favor and other times, siding with the U.S.

Last summer, Canada won a key decision by a NAFTA appeal panel which Ottawa said should have settled the issue, but the Americans have refused to concede defeat.

Source: Xinhua