The US Department of Commerce issued its final determination in the third annual review of softwood lumber imports from Canada. The total duty rate of 8.59% confirms yet again that Canadian lumber imports are unfairly traded into the US market, the US Lumber Coalition said in a statement. Source: Timberbiz
“The trade laws duties announced today by the Commerce Department will help offset Canada’s unfair trade practices,” said Andrew Miller, Chairman of the US Lumber Coalition and CEO of Stimson Lumber.
“The benefit of the trade cases against Canada are clear,” added Mr Miller, “trade law enforcement boosts American manufacturing and results in more U.S. lumber being produced by US workers to build US homes.”
US sawmills have invested heavily to expand capacity since the trade cases were filed in 2016. The domestic industry has produced an additional 15 billion board feet of lumber through 2021, averaging three billion a year of additional output. This is enough lumber to build more than one million single-family homes.
The US Lumber Coalition supports the continued enforcement of the US trade laws to strengthen domestic supply chains by allowing American companies to invest and increase the overall supply of made-in-America lumber and will continue to aggressively pursue the enforcement of the trade laws.
The US industry remains open to a new US – Canada softwood lumber trade agreement if and when Canada can demonstrate that it is serious about negotiations for an agreement that addresses Canada’s unfair trade practices which are harming US producers, workers, and timberland holders.
Until then, the US Lumber Coalition fully supports the continued strong enforcement of the US trade laws to address Canada’s unfair softwood lumber trade practices.
