Canada will challenge what Ottawa described as "unfair, unjust and illegal" U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber products, the trade ministry said on Tuesday.

The softwood lumber tariffs are the legacy of a decades-long trade dispute over the structure of Canada's timber sector that could not be resolved when a quota agreement expired in 2015.

U.S. producers say the Canadian exports are unfairly subsidized and in July, the country's commerce department ruled that most Canadian softwood lumber would be subject to a 7.99% tax.

Canada on Monday filed notices of intent to commence judicial review regarding those duties, the trade ministry said in a statement, adding that Ottawa remained willing to discuss a negotiated outcome with Washington.

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"For years, the United States has imposed unfair, unjust and illegal duties on Canadian softwood lumber, hurting Canadian industry and increasing housing costs in both countries," Trade Minister Mary Ng said in the statement.

"Canada is taking the necessary steps to actively defend the interests of our softwood lumber industry and the workers and communities that rely on it."

The United States has said that Canadian timber harvested from federal and provincial lands with low government-set stumpage fees constitutes an unfair subsidy, while most U.S. timber is harvested from private land at market rates.

The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A bus carrying mostly Venezuelan migrants crashed into a freight truck Tuesday in central Mexico, killing at least 15 people and injuring 36, local authorities said.

The government of Puebla state did not say how many of the dead were migrants, but presumably most of the casualties were among the bus passengers, and the government said most of them were Venezuelans.

The accident happened early Tuesday on a highway that runs south toward Oaxaca state. The route is frequently used by migrant smugglers.

Because smugglers often use unsafe vehicles and drivers, cram too many migrants in or try to evade police, accidents involving those vehicles are not uncommon in Mexico.

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In July, five Honduran migrants were killed and another 18 injured when the van they were riding in crashed on a road on Mexico’s southern Gulf coast.

In February 17 migrants were killed when the bus they were traveling in crashed in Puebla.

Migrants frequently use trucks and buses to travel through Mexico to reach the U.S. border.

In 2021 a truck carrying migrants overturned on a highway near the southern city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, killing 56 people.