U.S. slaps more duties on Canadian lumber

The Canada- U. S. softwood lumber trade dispute intensified Monday after the U. S. Department of Commerce boosted the levy it imposes on Canadian lumber shipments to 26.75 per cent from 19.88 per cent.

The U. S. Department of Commerce said Canada is “dumping” lumber on the U. S. market at below market prices, and imposed a duty of 6.87 per cent against most Canadian producers. That’s on top of the 19.88 per cent duty the U.S. slapped on Canadian lumber shipments in April.

Canadian industry officials deny the dumping allegation and vow to fight.

“The ongoing allegations leveled by the U. S. industry are without merit. This was proven in the last round of litigation and we fully expect it will be the case again,” said Susan Yurkovich, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council.

“These duties result from the trade action which is part of the continued attempt by the protectionist U. S. lumber lobby to constrain imports of high- quality Canadian lumber into the U. S. market and to drive up prices for their benefit.”

The anti- dumping duty hits four specific producers with their own tariffs: Canfor Corp., 7.72 per cent; Tolko Industries Ltd., 7.53 per cent; West Fraser Timber Co., 6.76 per cent; and Resolute Forest Products Inc., 4.59 per cent. All other Canadian producers now face a blanket anti-dumping duty of 6.87 per cent.

The new levies are in addition to “countervailing duties” imposed on Canadian lumber in April. The duty ranges between three and 24 per cent for five specific Canadian firms, and sits at 19.88 per cent against all others. These “temporary” countervailing duties were imposed after the U. S. Department of Commerce ruled Canadian producers are unfairly subsidized because they source their timber on Crown lands — another claim Canadian producers deny.

Combining t he a nti - dumping and the countervailing duties means Canadian l umber shipments now face levies ranging from 26.75 per cent to 30.88 per cent for most producers.

Leading into Monday’s announcement, analysts expected the U. S. to impose high duties on Canadian lumber to put pressure on the Canadian government ahead of August talks to renegotiate NAFTA. “Antidumping (duties) is a way to scare the Canadians and try to force them to get something done,” said Paul Quinn of RBC Capital Markets.

In addition to the new duties, the U.S. decided to exclude softwood lumber from the Atlantic provinces from the ongoing trade dispute.