Exports of
Canadian softwood, dairy and wheat are going to fall, NAFTA or not.
The two countries have two major such cases on the go — the United States on
Canadian softwood lumber, and Canada on U.S. drywall.
The system seems especially important today in light of big cases where the US is trying to unilaterally impose tariffs on
Canadian softwood lumber and Canadian aircraft for allegedly violating rules governing fair trade.
However, as illustrated by the US's imposition of 20 % countervailing duties on
Canadian softwood lumber in April 2017, along with the recent Boeing / Bombardier dispute, Canada is unlikely to escape the «America First» trade policy unscathed.
The Canadian softwood lumber industry and Canadian energy companies depend a lot on free trade with the United States.
The coalition is claiming
Canadian Softwood imports of 30 % which is just about the banking monetary difference thus Duties & Tariffs at 20.3... % for US claimed import damages..
In the ongoing spat between Canada and the U.S. over
Canadian softwood lumber, this clause has allowed Canada to avoid significant countervailing duties.
Freeland says the U.S. is dependent on
Canadian softwood because its own industry can't meet its domestic demand.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he told Trump in a Tuesday phone call that the U.S. commerce department levelled «baseless allegations» when it imposed new, unfair duties on
Canadian softwood this week.
In April, the U.S. slapped countervailing duties on
Canadian softwood imports, which averaged out at about 20 per cent.
According to Mason, there's a good possibility the United States will exempt all Atlantic
Canadian softwood lumber producers from the countervailing duties before May 1.
In the wake of the U.S. Department of Commerce's announcement of the countervailing duties on
Canadian softwood lumber Tuesday, the Canadian dollar fell due to expectations of large job losses that could begin to take hold as early as this fall.
An exemption from the countervailing duties for Atlantic
Canadian softwood lumber producers would give them a competitive advantage relative to other forestry companies in Canada, said Mason.
That's exactly what happened when the administration imposed tariffs on
Canadian softwood lumber last year.
Tuesday, ERA Forest Products Research managing director Kevin Mason said the low countervailing duty J.D. Irving is being asked to pay will give it a competitive advantage relative to other
Canadian softwood lumber producers.
«Given that home builders are already grappling with 20 percent tariffs on
Canadian softwood lumber and that the price of lumber and other key building materials are near record highs, this announcement by the president could not have come at a worse time.
Canadian softwood lumber entering the States will now be subject to a 20.83 % tariff after the two countries failed to reach a mutually agreeable arrangement (though this duty is lower than an earlier, interim tariff).
It wasn't Trump's first move to retaliate against a country's perceived unfair trade practices: The U.S. has moved forward with tariffs against
Canadian softwood lumber exports, initially proposed in April 2017, for instance.
The administration is also imposing duties on
Canadian softwood timber and is investigating whether steel and aluminum imports pose a threat to national security.
The process is similar to one used against
Canadian softwood lumber, newsprint and Bombardier planes.
Northwest US and
Canadian softwoods are being clearcut so that we can continue our strange habit of building houses out of two by fours.
Not exact matches
He was quoted by the
Canadian Press as telling delegates that he saw «a window» of opportunity, «somewhere between Memorial Day [May 29] and the Fourth of July,» when Canada and the U.S. might reach a new
softwood agreement.
One alternative for the
Canadian government to consider is to reinvigorate the State - to - State dispute resolution system under NAFTA Chapter 20, as a replacement for the Chapter 19 panel review process, with some re-jigging to add special provisions to deal with trade remedy disputes such as the ongoing
softwood lumber battle.
Here's why: Chapter 19 allows Canada to bypass the U.S. judicial review process when the U.S. government imposes antidumping and / or countervailing duties on
Canadian products imported into the United States, as has been the case repeatedly with
softwood lumber, for example.
In November last year, the U.S. Commerce Department slapped
Canadian exporters of
softwood lumber into the U.S. with permanent duties averaging 20 %.
J.D. Irving's lumber operations in New Brunswick — and its one mill in Truro — gained a competitive advantage over other
Canadian forestry companies Tuesday as the United States imposed harsh countervailing duties on
softwood lumber imports.
Despite the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to hit all other
Canadian producers with countervailing duties of 19.88 per cent starting this year, many industry insiders and political leaders are hopeful Atlantic
Canadian companies can be exempted from tariffs on
softwood lumber exports to the United States.
The U.S.
Softwood Lumber Situation in a
Canadian - American Perspective,
Canadian - American Committee 15, by Sperry Lea.
WASHINGTON — The
Canadian government is threatening multiple trade actions against the United States in retaliation for duties on
softwood lumber.
U.S.
softwood lumber production is on the rise, with more
Canadian - owned sawmills located in the U.S. than in Canada due to lower labour costs, higher timber availability, and higher demand.
The Trump administration has made it known that the
softwood lumber industry and
Canadian livestock are both sources of interest, where the U.S. would like to seek more favourable terms of trade.
says it's 100 %
Canadian Pine
softwood... so I sure hope it's ok.
[The Indigenous Network of Environment and Trade] argued that Canada's policy of not recognizing aboriginal treaty rights [in the
Canadian - US
softwood lumber dispute] was a form of a cash subsidy, a real cash subsidy, because the only thing that the
Many
Canadians feel NAFTA has failed their national interests, especially when it comes to
softwood lumber, one of our largest exports at $ 10.5 - billion per annum.