Coalition Applauds Commerce Ruling

U.S. Dept. of Commerce issued its final determination in the second administrative review of softwood lumber imports from Canada, and revealed a combined anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duty rate of 17.9%, confirming yet again that Canadian imports are unfairly subsidized and traded into the U.S. market, according to the U.S. Lumber Coalition.

“The U.S. Lumber Coalition thanks the Commerce Department for their hard work and continued commitment to strongly enforce the U.S. trade laws against unfairly traded Canadian lumber imports,” states Jason Brochu, Chairman of the U.S. Lumber Coalition and Co-President of Pleasant River Lumber Co. in Maine. “Trade law enforcement maximizes long-term domestic production and lumber availability and has already resulted in dramatic growth of U.S. made lumber to meet strong demand to build more American homes.”

U.S. sawmill investment and capacity expansion has been robust since the filing of the trade cases by the U.S. Lumber Coalition in 2016, the Coalition reports. The U.S. industry appears on track to have produced an additional 17.5 billion BF of lumber through 2021, averaging 3.5 billion a year. These increases have more than offset any decline in unfairly traded Canadian imports and are enough lumber to build about 1.2 million single-family American homes.

“A level playing field is critical for the continued investment and growth of the domestic lumber industry and its hundreds of thousands of workers and thousands of communities across the United States,” Brochu says.

The U.S. industry remains open to a new U.S.–Canada softwood lumber trade agreement if and when Canada can demonstrate that it is serious about negotiations for an agreement that offsets the injury caused by Canadian unfair trade to U.S. producers, workers, and timberland holders, according to the Coalition.