Canada Will Challenge U.S. Softwood Lumber Duties

Canada will challenge U.S. softwood lumber duties under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The government filed notice that it will challenge, under Chapter 10 of the agreement, the final results of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s third administrative reviews of its anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on softwood lumber from Canada. “The United States has long relied on competitive Canadian lumber products to meet its domestic needs for high-quality, sustainable, and innovative building materials. These unjustified duties on softwood products from Canada not only harm Canadian communities, businesses, and workers, but they amount to a tax on U.S. consumers, affecting housing affordability at a time of supply challenges and inflationary pressures,” says Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development. Taking legal action under CUSMA represents another step in Canada’s ongoing defence of its forestry sector. Canada’s softwood lumber industry is a key driver of economic activity across the country and an essential component of Canada’s forestry sector, which contributed more than $34.8 billion to the country’s GDP in 2021 and employs some 205,000 workers.