Timber industry research & analytics US reduces antidumping duties on Canadian timber
The U.S. Department of Commerce reduced its penalties against imports of Canadian timber, primarily from B.C. producers, in the softwood timber dispute.
An administrative review of countervailing and anti-dumping duties reduced the tariffs to an average of 9% from 20.23%, which had been levied on Canadian timber starting in 2018. The new rate will take effect when it’s posted to the commerce department’s registry.
That decision was”a step in the right direction” but doesn’t change the B.C. industry’s approach to the dispute, said Susan Yurkovich, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council.
“The fact that we’re still paying duties on our lumber products sold to the U.S. market is both frustrating and disappointing,” Yurkovich said in a statement. “As we have consistently said, and as has been proven in previous rounds of litigation, the Canadian industry is not subsidized and this trade action levelled by U.S. producers is completely without merit.”
In its own statement, the U.S. Lumber Coalition said Tuesday’s decision understates those subsidies but reinforces that Canadian timber producers do benefit in ways that allow them to dump product into the U.S. at below-market prices.
