Ottawa said Tuesday it will challenge US anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber, saying they harm both Canadian producers and US consumers.

The challenge will be filed under Chapter 10 of the trilateral free trade agreement with the United States and Mexico, or USMCA, the Canadian government said in a statement.

"Rulings on this issue have consistently found Canada to be a fair trading partner, and Canada is confident that rulings will continue to find Canada to be one," Trade Minister Mary Ng said.

"These unjustified duties not only harm Canadian communities, businesses, and workers, but they are also a tax on US consumers, raising the costs of housing, renovations, and rentals," she said.

The lumber dispute has plagued relations between Washington and Ottawa for 35 years.

US producers accuse their Canadian counterparts of selling wood below the market price to promote exports, which Ottawa denies.

Canada is the world's largest exporter of softwood lumber while the United States is the largest market.

Last month, as lumber prices surged, the United States doubled tariffs on Canadian lumber to 17.9 percent.

Ng said Ottawa remains "extremely disappointed" with the US tariff move and renewed calls for Washington "to stop imposing unwarranted duties on Canadian softwood lumber products."

Canadian forestry associations applauded Ottawa's challenge of the tariffs.

The British Columbia Lumber Trade Council's president Susan Yurkovich also urged the United States to "end this decades-long dispute."

The Council of the Quebec Forest Industry's Jean-Francois Samray, meanwhile, told AFP the dispute must be settled in order "to have a lasting economic recovery."

Related Links
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

European stores pull products linked to Brazil deforestation
Paris (AFP) Dec 16, 2021
Several European supermarket chains are dropping Brazilian beef products linked to destruction of the Amazon rainforest and tropical wetland, the US activist group Mighty Earth said Thursday. Chains such as Carrefour Belgium have committed to pulling from their shelves corned beef, beef jerky and fresh prime cuts suspected to come from cattle raised in the Amazon and the Pantanal tropical wetlands. The move came after a Mighty Earth investigation in partnership with Reporter Brasil, a Brazilian ... read more