Anti-dumping duties levied on Canadian softwood imports to the US can stay in place but may have to be reduced, a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) panel has ruled.
According to industry newsletter Random Lengths, both countries managed to find something positive in the 189-page ruling. The US-based Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports is upbeat that the NAFTA panel agreed that Canadians had been “dumping” timber on the American market, while the Canadian goverment says the findings will make the US reduce the levy.
The panel found that errors were made in calculating the 8.4% duty rate applied to Abitibi Consolidated, Tembec and West Fraser Timber. The US department of commerce has been given 60 days to recalculate the rate.
Meanwhile, a NAFTA ruling on Canada’s challenge of American countervailing duties, which average 18.8%, has been delayed until August 15.
