(Washington) Two elected Americans – a Republican and a Democrat – are urging the “trade ambassador” of the administration of Joe Biden to conclude an agreement with Canada on softwood lumber.
Posted at 11:23 a.m.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota also believe that further relief from tariffs that are currently imposed on imports from Canada would reduce inflationary pressure on the real estate market. American.
The two senators are urging US Trade Representative Katherine Tai to strike a new softwood lumber deal, to provide long-term relief to a market where about 30% of the lumber used in the United States is Canadian.
Mme Tai responds that the United States is willing to talk, but Canada needs to tackle federal stumpage, a regime that US growers say creates a level playing field. That sentiment is at the heart of a decades-long trade dispute between the two neighbors.
Last November, the US Commerce Department doubled softwood lumber tariffs to 17.9%, but decided earlier this year to lower them to 11.64%.
Ottawa sets stumpage fees for timber harvested from federal and provincial lands. US producers, forced to pay market rates, have long argued that this is an unfair subsidy.
Even lower tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber “would make home building and home ownership more affordable for communities across the country,” Senators Menendez and Senator Thune wrote in a letter Monday. to Mme Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
Since the last softwood lumber agreement between the two countries expired in 2015, lumber prices have more than doubled, they write.
Addressing inefficiencies in the timber trade would help reduce unnecessary financial pressures on the US housing market, the senators argue. We urge the US Trade Representative to prioritize a new softwood lumber agreement between the United States and Canada. »