Canada's foresters felt the slap of the countervailing duties they were bracing for late Monday, with confirmation out of Washington that softwood lumber imports are unfairly subsidized.
As a result of a U.S. Commerce Department investigation, Canadian lumber imports are expected to face new duties ranging from 3% to 24%, starting next week. They are called countervailing duties when they are used to level the playing field when a country believes that another country's product is unfairly subsidized.
Lumber industry people in the States have argued for decades that because most Canadian timber is harvested on Crown lands, the way provincial governments manage and set prices for these harvests results in cheaper lumber.
However, federal and provincial governments on this side of the line have changed the way they operate to address such concerns. Timber auctions are now used to better reflect current market rates.
This week's decision is the first of two probes that began following a petition launched last fall by the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade or Negotiations, which includes the Washington-based U.S. Lumber Coalition lobby group, a carpenters union and about a dozen American timber producers and sawmills, claiming to represent about 70% of the U.S. industry.
The probe targeted five major Canadian softwood exporters: Canfor, Resolute, Tolko, West Fraser, and J.D. Irving. West Fraser has been assessed a more than 24% duty.
The duties are expected to be collected at the border starting early next week.
