(Ottawa) This is a film in which the federal government has played on numerous occasions. International Trade Minister Mary Ng on Tuesday announced that Canada will challenge US countervailing duties on softwood lumber under the Canada – United States – Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
“Decisions on this issue have consistently concluded that Canada is a fair trading partner, and Canada is confident that it will continue to be so,” she said in a statement. This is another step Canada is taking to defend Canada’s forest sector and national interests. ”
The United States doubled its countervailing duties on Canadian lumber exports in November. They went from an average of 8.99% to 17.9%. This measure particularly hits Resolute Forest Products. The company, headquartered in Montreal, must pay a combined tax of 29.66%.
Minister Ng considers these countervailing duties unjustified and calls again on the United States to stop imposing them. She argued that they are hurting American consumers just as much by increasing the cost of construction, renovations and therefore housing.
“Canada has repeatedly expressed to the United States its readiness to work towards a negotiated solution to this long-standing trade problem that would allow the return to predictable cross-border trade in softwood lumber in the future. ‘interest of the workers of each of the two countries ”, she indicated.
As part of this challenge, binational groups will have to determine whether doubling the countervailing duties on lumber complies with US law. Usually the US Department of Commerce sets their new annual rate.
This announcement by Minister Ng comes as Justin Trudeau’s government has chosen to take a more combative approach to American protectionism. In the mandate letters of his economic trio, the Prime Minister asks his ministers to take a firmer approach. Mary Ng’s statement, however, made no mention of the lumber industry, which had been denounced by the Bloc Québécois.
The Canadian lumber industry employs nearly 185,000 workers, primarily in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.