WASHINGTON – The Bush administration announced Thursday that it had reached a tentative agreement to settle a three-decade-long battle with Canada over softwood lumber.

The initial reaction from the U.S. timber industry was favorable, but some Canadians complained that the proposed settlement represented too much of a victory for American producers.

The Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, which has led the fight against Canadian imports, said in a statement that it “could support settlement terms that U.S. officials have described.”

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, called the deal a “major breakthrough.” She said in a statement Thursday evening that the deal “should provide relief to Maine and the nation’s timber industry.”

But some Canadians expressed unhappiness with a provision that would allow the United States to keep around $1 billion in penalty duties already collected on softwood lumber despite numerous adverse rulings by the World Trade Organization and other hearing panels against the U.S. levies.

“It’s outrageous, it’s a sellout, it’s a crime that the Americans would keep a billion dollars of money that seven decisions have now said they shouldn’t have,” said Jack Layton, the leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, referring to the deal negotiated by the Conservative government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Bush administration officials said the fate of the proposed deal would depend on whether it won industry support in the United States and Canada.

“Given the nature of the agreement and ongoing litigation, it will ultimately be up to our respective industries to decide if they want to embrace a solid market-based agreement,” said Neena Moorjani, a spokeswoman for U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman.

Moorjani said the administration believed the deal would bring stability to the North American lumber market. She said the alternative was “many more years of litigation, acrimony and market uncertainty.”

Softwood lumber, which includes pine and other varieties, is heavily used in the construction of new homes.

The agreement was reached late Tuesday night but was not announced publicly until Thursday to give administration officials time to brief U.S. industry representatives. Moorjani said that despite some reservations, American lumber producers have “indicated a willingness to accept it.”

The U.S. side did not immediately release details of the tentative agreement but Canadian provincial politicians and Canadian media reports said the deal involved capping Canada’s share of the U.S. lumber market at 34 percent. According to the reports, the United States agreed to return 78 percent of the $4.3 billion in penalty tariffs that had been imposed on imports of softwood lumber from Canada.

According to the reports, Canada would impose an export tax starting when North American lumber prices fall below $360 per 1,000 board feet of softwood lumber. The levy could go as high as 15 percent when the price goes below $310 per 1,000 board feet. This Canadian tax would serve to drive up the cost of lumber exported to the United States, reducing competitive pressures on U.S. producers while driving up the cost of lumber for American consumers.

The framework also reportedly requires all parties to drop trade litigation and puts a moratorium on future trade complaints.