The US Department of Commerce has relented in the softwood lumber war with Canada by agreeing that British Columbia (BC) timber is not subsidised.
The decision follows an earlier ruling by a North American Free Trade Agreement panel, which found the department’s methodology for calculating alleged Canadian subsidies on timber was incorrect.
The department also says there is just a 1.8% subsidy for Canada overall. A finding of less than 1% would have resulted in the subsidy order being cancelled.
But duties will remain in place for BC lumber producers, since they still have to pay the subsidy rate for Canada.
In 2002 the department decided the BC lumber subsidy was 15%, a figure it later increased to 23%.
