US Takes Aim at Canadian Lumber

Canada filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the US in the latest chapter of the long-running softwood lumber dispute between the two countries. The US announced preliminary duties on Canadian lumber imports citing unfair practices in April 2017. In response, Canada’s complaint alleges that the US unlawfully imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Canada’s softwood lumber industry. The Trump administration finalized duties between 6 and 23.6% earlier this month as a way to protect US lumber.

Canada harvests lumber primarily from government-owned land and sets prices administratively whereas the privately held US lumber industry sets prices based on market forces. With the majority of US lumber imports coming from Canada and the survival of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) threatened, Gro Intelligence provides the data and analytics necessary to stay ahead of future lumber trade disputes.