BC forestry companies have to pay even more to access US markets, after the US Department of Commerce nearly doubled duties on Tuesday.
Duties were hiked from eight per cent to more than 14.5 per cent on Tuesday, after the Commerce department’s fifth annual review of Canadian softwood lumber exports to the United States.
Bruce Ralston, BC’s Forests Minister, said in a statement that the decision hurts Canadians as well as Americans struggling with the increasing costs of building new homes.
“The evidence is clear: Duties on Canada’s softwood lumber exports cannot be justified,” he said. “That’s why, alongside the Government of Canada, we will continue to pursue litigation under North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, the U.S. Court of International Trade and at the World Trade Organization.”
American lumber companies applauded the decision. They claim Canadian exports are making a poor lumber market plagued by too much supply and rock-bottom prices worse, leading to layoffs and US mill closures.
Andrew Mercier, BC’s Minister of State for Sustainable Forest Innovation, says BC will continue to fight the duties but is also working to boost the domestic market for BC lumber.
The softwood lumber dispute has been ongoing between Canada and the USA for decades. BC produces American producers claim BC’s management of Crown lands and stumpage fees gives them an unfair advantage.
B.C. is Canada’s largest producer of softwood lumber, accounting for over half of overall national production.
