Vancouver, B.C. – The BC Lumber Trade Council (BCLTC) is disappointed that Canadian lumber producers continue to face unjustified and punitive trade measures. In the final results of its seventh administrative review, the U.S. Department of Commerce has set the countervailing duty rate at 14.11% and the anti-dumping rate at 10.64%, for a combined rate of 24.75%. With the additional 10% tariff imposed under Section 232, Canadian softwood lumber faces import taxes of 34.75% entering the United States.
“The combined weight of duties and tariffs continues to place a significant burden on Canadian lumber producers,” said Kim Haakstad, Interim President of the BC Lumber Trade Council. “For nearly a decade, this dispute has put jobs, mills and forestry communities across B.C. under pressure. American families are paying the price too, as these trade barriers drive up the cost of building homes and hurt U.S. companies that sell equipment and services to Canadian sawmills.”
The U.S. cannot meet its own demand for spruce-pine-fir (SPF) lumber, and part of that demand will always be met by imports, whether from Canada or outside North America. SPF and Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) are not interchangeable. They complement rather than compete, as U.S. homebuilders rely on both.
The best result for both sides of the border is a negotiated agreement.
“Lumber crosses our shared border because builders on both sides need it,” Haakstad said. “Our producers compete fairly in a market-driven system, and these duties are unjustified. It’s time to end this dispute.”
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Media Contact: media@bclumbertrade.com