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The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a final anti-dumping duty rate of 20.56% in the sixth annual anti-dumping review of Canadian softwood lumber imports into the U.S. The review covered lumber imported in calendar year 2023.
Canadian lumber organizations called the measure “unjustified, punitive and protectionist,” claiming the higher tax will add $15,000 to $20,000 to the price of a new home for U.S. homebuyers.
U.S. manufacturers, however, applauded the findings. “20.56%—that is the enormous extent to which Canadian producers dumped their lumber in the U.S market. Over 20% of predatory pricing that U.S. lumber producers and workers had to face in their day-to-day operations, and that is not even counting subsidies,” said Andrew Miller, owner of Stimson Lumber Co. and chairman of the U.S. Lumber Coalition. “Canada’s outrageous unfair trading directly hit U.S. companies, workers, and communities during already challenging times.”
According to the U.S. Lumber Coalition, enforcement of such trade laws will lead to increased U.S. capacity that will allow the U.S. to supply the vast majority of its own lumber needs. U.S. mills have added 8.8 billion bd. ft. of capacity since 2016 in the form of new mills and expansions of existing mills. The U.S. industry has produced 30 billion additional bd. ft. of softwood lumber during this period, purportedly more than offset any decline in unfairly traded Canadian imports and are enough lumber to build two million single-family homes.
“The United States has the natural resources to support its lumber industry. The American lumber industry and forestry sector today has the capacity to supply nearly all U.S. lumber demand, and with continued strong trade law enforcement can become self-reliant over time,” noted Zoltan van Heyningen, U.S. Lumber Coalition executive director.
