Following U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on certain softwood lumber products from Canada, The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade, Tuesday issued the following statement regarding the first administrative review by the U.S. Department of Commerce of U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on certain softwood lumber products from Canada:
“Canada’s forestry sector supports hundreds of thousands of good, middle-class jobs for Canadians in communities across the country, and we will always vigorously defend their interests.
“While the reduction in tariffs for some Canadian producers is a step in the right direction, Canada is disappointed that the United States continues to impose unwarranted and unfair duties on Canadian softwood lumber.
“Canada strongly disagrees with this decision which will result in higher duties for Resolute Forest Products, a company that employs thousands of hard-working people in Quebec and Ontario.
“Canada expects the United States to comply with its WTO and CUSMA obligations and drop their baseless duties on Canadian softwood lumber.
“These duties have caused unjustified harm to Canadian businesses and workers, as well as U.S. consumers.
“We will continue to press our American counterparts to rescind this unfair and unwarranted trade action. We remain confident that a negotiated settlement is not only possible but in the interests of both our countries.”
This is not the first time the U.S Department of Commerce will be applying these measures. In 2017, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the affirmative preliminary determination in the antidumping duty (AD) investigation of softwood lumber from Canada.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade laws and does so through an impartial, transparent process grounded in U.S. law that mirrors international rules and is based solely on accurate evidence.
Overseas companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to AD.
Companies that receive unwarranted subsidies from their governments in the form of grants, loans, equity infusions, tax breaks, and production inputs are subject to “countervailing duties” (CVD) aimed at directly countering those subsidies.
From January 20, 2017, through June 26, 2017, Commerce has initiated 49 antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. Commerce currently maintains 401 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.