U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber 'unjustified': B.C. ministers

FILE - Doug Howson loads lumber onto a forklift at Haney Builders Supplies, in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Friday, June 12, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The British Columbia government is voicing frustration at the United States over its decision to maintain import duties on Canadian softwood lumber.

In a joint statement Wednesday, Forests Minister Bruce Ralston and Jobs Minister Brenda Bailey said the import tariffs are "unjustified" and hurt consumers in both countries.

"At a time when we need to work together in the face of rising costs related to global inflation, these tariffs are making housing and lumber more expensive, hurting people on both sides of the border," the ministers said.

“As we continue to build a more resilient, sustainable forest economy, what we need are partners across the border who work with us, not against us, in making a stronger forest sector for Canada and the United States."

Mary Ng, Canada's international trade minister, said Tuesday the duties the U.S. imposes on Canadian softwood lumber amount to a tax on American customers.

Documents filed Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Commerce are the latest in a series of reviews of the lumber dispute, and indicate the anti-dumping and countervailing duties aren't going away.

The latest combined duty rates - which are preliminary and won't take effect until after a final review expected this summer - range between 7.29 and 9.38 per cent.

Ng said Canada will use all avenues to fight the duties, including litigation under NAFTA and its successor the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as well as at the World Trade Organization.

“With these preliminary results, the U.S. Department of Commerce has indicated its intention to maintain its unjustified duties on imports of Canadian softwood lumber,” Ng said in a statement.

“Canada remains ready and willing to find solutions that allow for a return to predictable cross-border trade in softwood lumber. We are confident that a negotiated solution to this long-standing issue is in the best interests of both our countries.”

The U.S. wants Canada to address the provincial stumpage fee regime that American producers have long complained gives Canadian producers an unfair advantage – the core issue in a dispute that has persisted for decades.

Lumber-producing provinces, including B.C., set stumpage fees for timber harvested from Crown land – a system that U.S. producers, forced to pay market rates, say amounts to an unfair subsidy.

Ottawa, however, insists that such a fundamental change to the way a key Crown resource is managed is not on the table.

"B.C. will always work with the federal government to stand up for the 50,000 hard-working people in our forest industry against these unwarranted duties," Ralston and Bailey said, adding the provincial government is committed to expanding markets for B.C. wood products.

With files from The Canadian Press