B.C. lumber producers and Forests Minister Ravi Parmer expressed disappointment on Friday (July 25) as the United States Department of Commerce decided to hike anti-dumping duties on softwood lumber to 20.56 per cent.
These "anti-dumping" duties are combined with "countervailing" duties to add fees to Canadian lumber shipped to the U.S.
This rate hike sets anti-dumping duties higher than the preliminary determination of 20.07 per cent revealed by the U.S. in April. Canadian producers are still waiting for the final word on countervailing duties, which is expected sometime later this summer. The preliminary determination for countervailing rates was set at 14.38 per cent in April, which, if brought into force, would make a combined rate of 34.94 per cent. These rates are up from 7.66 and 6.74, respectively.
While these rates are valid for the majority of Canadian softwood lumber producers, Canfor and West Fraser Timber have company-specific rates. Generally speaking, rates for Canfor products are set higher than the average and rates for West Fraser are set lower.
The U.S. uses anti-dumping duties to force specific companies to sell products at what it determines to be "fair market value," arguing those companies are selling products at artificially depressed prices. It uses countervailing duties to make up for a foreign government's subsidies in a given industry.
Whether or not these duties are fair to Canadians has been the subject of a decades-long dispute between the two countries. While the Americans contend that Canada props up its lumber industry, creating an unfair competitive advantage, the Canadians argue that the U.S. uses flawed methodology to arrive at this conclusion, and in calculating duties.
Kurt Niquidet, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council reiterated this stance in a written statement on Friday.
鈥淭hese duties are both unjustified and harmful,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey unfairly penalize forestry workers and families across British Columbia, while further increasing costs for American homebuilders and consumers.鈥�
The B.C. Council of Forest Industries (COFI) issued a separate written statement saying it wants the lumber trade dispute made a top national priority and for the province to do more to bolster the industry.
COFI called for the creation of a dedicated team to clear permitting backlogs, the release of more volume through B.C. Timber Sales, and the expansion of salvage and thinning operations, among other actions.
"The best way to support forest workers is to keep mills operating and people working," the COFI statement says. "We want to retain forestry workers, not retrain them."
Since U.S. President Donald Trump's re-election, the industry has also feared that tariffs 鈥� which are set rates and not necessarily an attempt to match subsidies or create a fair market 鈥� would come on top of the duties, effectively pricing Canadian lumber out of the U.S. market.
"U.S. President Donald Trump has made it his mission to destroy Canada's economy, and the forestry sector is feeling the full weight of this," Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said.
