The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced it’s planning to almost triple the anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber, bringing total levies to almost 27 percent even before the American president’s threatened tariffs.
The department issued a preliminary anti-dumping rate of 20.07 percent today, up from 7.66 percent sent three years ago, which is in addition to countervailing duties of 6.74 percent.
The BC Lumber Trade Council says in a statement that the hike is unjustified and will harm forestry workers and communities in Canada and further burden homebuilders and consumers in the United States.
Council president Kurt Niquidet says it is deeply disappointing that the U.S. continues to impose such trade protection measures.
The Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute has been dragging on for decades, with the Americans saying Canadian producers sell below market value and that the industry is subsidized.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders on the weekend to initiate a national security investigation into lumber imports into America and ordered that steps be taken to increase the domestic supply of timber.
He has also announced separate plans to impose tariffs on all Canadian imports from Tuesday.
