The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced it will be adding preliminary anti-dumping duties of 6.87% to most shipments of Canadian softwood lumber.
These duties are in addition to the preliminary countervailing duties of 19.88% announced in April. Duties vary from producer to producer. Canfor will face 7.72%, Resolute 4.59%, Tolko 7.53%, and West Fraser 6.76%, while ‘all other companies’ will have to pay 6.87%.
“We knew this decision was coming but that doesn’t soften the blow,” Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations John Rustad said in a statement released this afternoon. “Forestry built British Columbia and drives our economy. We will continue to stand strong and fight for the over 140 communities and over 60,000 British Columbians that depend on forestry for their livelihood.”
Rustad says the instability caused by this disagreement with the U.S. “isn’t healthy for the industry.”
“When you’ve got the countervailing and anti-dumping duties in place that are obviously harming companies and their ability to be able to invest, there may be situations where mills takes an extended downtime for maintenance and other things. However, our industry is strong and I do believe that we will be able to work through this. But if this extends for any length of time it does put jobs at risk in this province.”
He says BC will remain engaged in both Washington and Ottawa to ensure a favourable outcome for BC.
You can read the rest of Rustad’s statement below.
“The only long-term solution is a negotiated trade agreement. We will ensure B.C.’s interests are protected in any such agreement. The alternative is to be subject to U.S. legal processes designed to favour a few select timber barons. These actions hurt Canadian companies and Canadian workers, but they also hurt U.S. homebuyers and the U.S. construction and renovation industry.
“In the meantime, our legal team in B.C. will continue to work with Canada and with the forest sector to fight these duties at every opportunity. History shows that the American decisions on duties do not withstand legal scrutiny. Once the final determinations have been made by the U.S. Department of Commerce, we’ll be working closely with the federal government and B.C. industry on launching appeals.
“Further to recommendations made by the ministerial Federal-Provincial Task Force on Softwood Lumber, of which British Columbia is a member, the federal government has committed $867 million to assist workers and communities across Canada that may be affected by the softwood lumber tariffs. As reiterated in the speech from the throne, B.C. will continue to grow offshore markets for B.C. lumber, and also pre-purchase B.C. lumber for use in public housing projects.”
With Files from Shannon Waters