Canada oppugning U.S. softwood taxes under the recent NAFTA pact

Key takeaways: 

• Canada ships around $8 billion worth of softwood timber to the globe every year.
• The U.S. declared in November it would be doubling the burdens it levies on Canadian softwood timber.

Canada to challenge on US’ softwood taxes: 

The federal government is undertaking a challenge under the latest NAFTA pact against U.S. softwood timber duties, International trade Minister Mary Ng has declared.

Minister Mary Ng stated the government pointed notice of the challenge under Chapter 10 of the Canada, U.S. Mexico Agreement, (CUSMA).

“Canada reaffirms its call for the United States to cease imposing unnecessary duties on Canadian softwood lumber products,” Ng stated in a statement. Source – cbc.ca

The U.S. Department of Commerce declared in November that it would be setting an average duty of 17.9 per cent on softwood timber imported from Canada; twice the earlier 8.99 per cent rate.

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In May, the U.S. government stated it intended to spike the rate to 18.32 per cent, but after additional research over the summer, the agency chose to ratchet down that goal, while still doubling the levy.

The U.S. says Canadian timber producers pitch their product into the U.S. at a more inferior price than American timber firms can because they are supported. The U.S. puts a tax on all softwood timber from Canada to increase its cost at the retail level, which enables customers to purchase American wood.

Canada has long denied those allegations, and different trade judiciaries on the case have settled in Canada’s favour.

“Orders on this issue have consistently found Canada to be a fair trading partner, and Canada is confident that rulings will persist to find Canada to be one,” Ng stated in her statement. Source – cbc.ca