Washington ? The Bush administration is asking Canada to adopt forest practices that could raise timber prices and eliminate the need for stiff U.S. tariffs on lumber imported to build homes.

The administration last year imposed tariffs averaging 27 percent on softwood imports, contending that government subsidies kept Canadian lumber prices artificially low and threatened the U.S. industry.

Softwood lumber from pine, spruce, fir and hemlock trees is used to frame houses. The United States imported nearly $6 billion of softwood lumber in 2001, about one-third of the American market.

Canadians say softwood exports to the United States plunged by an average 25 percent after the tariffs were imposed, forcing mills across the country to lay off thousands of workers. The United States contends that the Canadian government now sells timber as much as 75 percent below market value.

To resolve the dispute, Grant Aldonas, U.S. undersecretary of commerce for international trade, proposed that Canada open bidding on cutting rights for lumber, a move he hopes will raise the price.

Aldonas is scheduled to discuss the proposal with Canadian officials this week.