Ottawa to challenge lower but 'baseless' U.S. duties on softwood lumber, says Ng

Thu, August 4, 2022 



WASHINGTON — Lower than expected U.S. penalties on softwood lumber exports from Canada are doing little to temper the dismay of the federal government in Ottawa.

International Trade Minister Mary Ng is calling the latest duties "baseless," "unwarranted" and "unfair."

The key final rate of 8.59 per cent is significantly lower than the current rate of 17.91 per cent, as well as the 11.64 per cent proposed in a preliminary decision issued earlier this year.

But Ng says the duties are unjustified no matter the level, and will cause undue hardship to both Canada's forestry industry and consumers in the U.S.

She says Ottawa will challenge the latest finding under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement's dispute resolution system.

Ng is nonetheless leaving the door open to a resolution to the years-long dispute, which some U.S. lawmakers and observers have been calling for to help ease record levels of inflation south of the border.

"Canada has always been willing to work with the United States to explore ideas that could allow for a return to predictable cross-border trade in softwood lumber," Ng said in a statement.

"We remain confident that a negotiated solution to this long-standing trade issue is in the best interests of both our countries, and we welcome an open dialogue with the Unites States to this end."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has also said the U.S. is willing to talk — on one condition.

Tai wants Canada to address the provincial stumpage fee regime that American producers have long complained gives producers north of the border an unfair advantage — the core issue in a dispute that has persisted for decades.

Federal officials in Ottawa say Canada would never agree to such a fundamental change to the way a key Crown resource is managed before the two sides have even sat down.

"These duties have caused unjustified harm to the Canadian industry and its workers," Ng said.

"They also amount to a tax on U.S. consumers, exacerbating housing unaffordability at a time of increased supply challenges and inflationary pressures."

Lumber-producing provinces set so-called stumpage fees for timber harvested from Crown land — a system that U.S. producers, forced to pay market rates, say amounts to an unfair subsidy.

Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune are among those who have been urging the Biden administration to provide further tariff relief on imports from Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2022.

Canada to Challenge US Lumber Duties Using Regional Trade Pact

Ana Monteiro and Jen Skerritt
Thu, August 4, 2022


(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s government said it will challenge US duties on softwood lumber, saying the tariffs have caused “unjustified harm” to the industry and workers.

“Canada is disappointed that the United States continues to impose unwarranted and unfair duties,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng said in a statement Thursday. “While the duty rates will decrease from the current levels for the majority of exporters, the only truly fair outcome would be for the United States to cease applying baseless duties.”

Ottawa will request dispute settlement through the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement after the Commerce Department ruled it will keep in place levies on some imports, according to the statement.

The lumber-tariff challenge would be the latest to use a dispute-resolution mechanism in the USMCA agreement between the three nations, previously known as Nafta. Canada and the US have lodged a complaint over Mexico’s nationalist energy policy, while all three are engaged in a spat over car manufacturing.

The Trump administration imposed tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber in 2017, saying the industry is unfairly subsidized. The US raised rates on imports in 2021 even as an unprecedented rally lifted prices to record highs during a pandemic-fueled homebuilding and renovation boom.

Ng added that the tariffs “also amount to a tax on US consumers, exacerbating housing unaffordability at a time of increased supply challenges and inflationary pressures. US builders get more than a quarter of their lumber from Canada, the world’s largest softwood-lumber exporter.

The US Commerce Department on Thursday ruled that the new, combined “all others rate” that will apply to some Canadian softwood-lumber exports will drop to 8.59% from 17.91%.

U.S. Lumber Coalition Supports Commerce Department Continued Enforcement of Trade Laws and Continued Growth of American Made Lumber to Build American Homes

Thu, August 4, 2022 

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Commerce today issued its final determination in the third annual review of softwood lumber imports from Canada. The total duty rate of 8.59% confirms yet again that Canadian lumber imports are unfairly traded into the U.S. market.

"The trade laws duties announced today by the Commerce Department will help offset Canada's unfair trade practices," said Andrew Miller, Chairman of the U.S. Lumber Coalition and CEO of Stimson Lumber. "The benefit of the trade cases against Canada are clear," added Miller. "Trade law enforcement boosts American manufacturing and results in more U.S. lumber being produced by U.S. workers to build U.S. homes."

U.S. sawmills have invested heavily to expand capacity since the trade cases were filed in 2016. The domestic industry has produced an additional 15 billion board feet of lumber through 2021, averaging 3 billion a year of additional output. This is enough lumber to build over 1 million single-family homes.

The U.S. Lumber Coalition supports the continued enforcement of the U.S. trade laws to strengthen domestic supply chains by allowing American companies to invest and increase the overall supply of made-in-America lumber and will continue to aggressively pursue the enforcement of the trade laws.

The U.S. industry remains open to a new U.S.–Canada softwood lumber trade agreement if and when Canada can demonstrate that it is serious about negotiations for an agreement that addresses Canada's unfair trade practices which are harming U.S. producers, workers, and timberland holders. Until then, the U.S. Lumber Coalition fully supports the continued strong enforcement of the U.S. trade laws to address Canada's unfair softwood lumber trade practices.

About the U.S. Lumber Coalition

The U.S. Lumber Coalition is an alliance of large and small softwood lumber producers from around the country, joined by their employees, and woodland owners, working to address Canada's unfair lumber trade practices. Our goal is to serve as the voice of the American lumber community, and effectively address Canada's unfair softwood lumber trade practices, including its gross underpricing of timber. For more information, please visit the Coalition's website at www.uslumbercoalition.org.

Softwood Sell Out

Say it ain't so...

In its rush to smooth relations with the U.S. government, Canada's newly elected Conservative government sold out the country's forestry industry when it signed the softwood-lumber agreement, even though legal victory in the long-festering dispute was only months away, a leading softwood lawyer contends in a blistering new commentary.

"The [Canadian] government didn't care about lumber," said Elliot Feldman, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who represented Ontario's forest industries before the softwood agreement was made last April. "The government cared about its foreign-policy agenda with the United States and wanted to clear this out of the way. That's all that mattered."

In his paper, to be published in a coming issue of the Journal of International Trade Law and Regulation, he details how Canada abandoned a round of litigation whose "end was more than in sight. It was imminent."

Had Canada stuck with the various cases underway, it would have seen, at worst, all but 2.11% of the U.S. duty stricken by August, 2006, and the already-collected duties -- a total of about US$5.5-billion, including interest -- returned by November, 2006, he argued.

Instead, he said, the Canadian government agreed to allow the U.S. industry to hold on to $1-billion of the duties -- $4.4-billion was repatriated -- and create a regime in which Canadian lumber exporters now face a punishing export tax and quotas that have further crippled profits already hamstrung by 15-year-low lumber prices and the soaring loonie.

And that one billion allegedly went into Republican election coffers via the White House.

The bribe failed and the U.S. government is again taking Canada to the international court of arbitration over the new agreement. Using that one billion to pay for it.

One of the provinces named in the suit is Alberta, Harpers home base. And in fact Alberta producers have not benefited from the softwood deal. The irony would be delicious if it wasn't pathetic.

Beaten down by poor markets, low prices, dollar parity, continuing disputes with the U.S. over softwood lumber and the mountain pine beetle, Morton said the forestry sector is in "the perfect storm" of economic woe.

How bad is the softwood deal for the rest of Canada's producers? It too is part of a perfect storm.

One of Canada's biggest lumber exporters, Tembec Inc. (TSX: TBC), has temporarily pulled all its lumber from sale in North America because of falling prices and the surging Canadian dollar. In addition, Canadian lumber faces an export tax when it crosses the border into the United States, a measure imposed a year ago by the Canadian government to settle a longstanding softwood lumber dispute with the United States.

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AND WE SIGNED NAFTA 2 WHY?

Canada to challenge U.S. softwood lumber export duties through World Trade Organization
Emerald Bensadoun

Canada said it will be considering "all of its legal options" to challenge Canadian softwood lumber export duties unveiled by the United States last month, the international minister of trade said Friday

.

© Global News A softwood lumber mill in New Brunswick

“These duties have caused unjustified harm for Canadian workers and businesses, and are hampering economic recovery on both sides of the border — especially when our people are being affected by the health and economic impacts of COVID-19," Minister Mary Ng said in a statement.

Trudeau says he continues to talk to Trump about ‘challenges’ around softwood lumber

“Canada will consider all of its legal options with respect to U.S. duties on softwood lumber, including the possibility of bringing this challenge to the World Trade Organization for review under its dispute settlement mechanism.”

Read more: Canada to keep fighting in softwood tariff dispute with U.S., Trudeau says

Ng's comments come in response to a new 7.42 per cent countervailing duty rate for most Canadian producers of softwood lumber that was established by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Nov. 24.

This, and an additional 1.57 per cent anti-dumping rate combine to 8.99 per cent, although the Canadian government said "certain companies also received company-specific rates."

Previously, Canadians exporting certain softwood lumber products to the U.S. were subject to a combined rate of 20.23 per cent. Last month, the federal government said it welcomed the reduction as a "step in the right direction," but reaffirmed its position that "unfair" fees on Canada's lumber industry must come to an end.

Video: Trudeau promises to fight for Canadian lumber industry with U.S.

In August, the World Trade Organization ruled against the U.S. over duties imposed in 2017 on the grounds that the American government had failed to prove 16 claims related to Canada's lumber industry, resulting in unfair subsidy for Canadian producers.

Ng said "any duties" imposed on Canadian exports of softwood lumber to the U.S. were "unwarranted and unfair."

“Our government will continue to vigorously defend its forestry sector and the thousands of hard-working Canadians it employs," she said.

Read more: Canadian lumber in legal limbo as U.S. appeals WTO ruling

The international trade minister's comments are the latest development in a series of disputes between Canada and the U.S. over tariffs that have worsened over recent months.

Canadian officials have argued that U.S. duties drove up construction costs in both countries, inflicting further damage on a lumber industry already ravaged by the effects of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Lumber Coalition has countered that even reducing the duty rate "understates true levels of subsidies and dumping," by the Canadian lumber industry.

“The U.S. lumber industry will continue to push for the trade laws to be enforced to the fullest extent possible in the second administrative review to allow U.S. manufacturers and workers the chance to prosper,” coalition co-chair Jason Brochu said in a previous statement to Global News.

Lumber tariffs, with some dropping, as trade dispute continues

The final decision on rates won't be known until August, and Canadian producers will be paying average rates of 18 per cent until then, according to the B.C. Lumber Trade Council.


Author of the article:
Bloomberg News
Jen Skerritt and Eric Martin
Publishing date: Feb 01, 2022 • 

Finished lumber is seen at West Fraser Pacific Inland Resources

 sawmill in Smithers, British Columbia.


The U.S. is setting duties on Canadian softwood lumber that would effectively lower the punitive tariffs on most producers as the long-simmering trade dispute drags on.

Average preliminary anti-dumping and countervailing duties of nearly 12 per cent will be levied on Canadian softwood lumber producers, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Tuesday in an email.

The move follows the government’s decision in late 2021 to raise the combined duty rates on shipments from Canadian companies. For producers such as Canfor Corp. the combined duty rates drop from nearly 20 per cent to 6.75 per cent. Resolute Forest Products will pay duties of 20 per cent, down from nearly 30 per cent. But West Fraser Timber’s tariffs will rise to 13 per cent from about 11 per cent.

The final decision on rates won’t be known until August, and Canadian producers will be paying average rates of 18 per cent until then, according to the B.C. Lumber Trade Council.

“We continue to hope that the U.S. industry will put an end to this decades-long litigation and instead work with us to meet demand for the low-carbon wood products the world wants,” Council CEO Susan Yurkovich said Tuesday in a statement.

The Trump administration slapped tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber in 2017, saying Canada’s industry is unfairly subsidized. While the move supports U.S. producers, it also adds costs for U.S. builders who get more than a quarter of their lumber from Canada.

The U.S. raised rates on Canadian lumber imports in 2021 even as an unprecedented rally lifted prices to record highs during a pandemic-fueled home-building and renovation boom. An index of framing composite lumber has more than tripled since late August, adding to the cost of an average new home in the U.S.

Lumber futures pulled back in January, signaling that soaring costs and transport bottlenecks will crimp demand.

Canada is the world’s largest softwood lumber exporter and the U.S. is its biggest market.

“The U.S. Department of Commerce is indicating with these preliminary results that it intends to maintain its unjustified duties on imports of Canadian softwood lumber,” Canada’s international trade minister Mary Ng said in a statement, noting duties hurt forestry sector business and workers across Canada.

“They are a tax on American consumers and reduce the affordability of housing for American home buyers at a time when housing prices are already at record highs.”

The Biden administration’s move to reduce the tariffs is an important step to addressing America’s “housing affordability crisis,” Chuck Fowke, chairman of the U.S. National Association of Home Builders, said in a statement.

Swings in the lumber market have added more than US$18,600 to the price of a new home since late summer, and the industry is urging the U.S. to negotiate with Canada on a new softwood lumber agreement to eliminate duties, he said.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Tuesday at a Senate hearing that she supports finding a lasting solution for the Canada softwood lumber issue to end the need for anti-dumping and countervailing duties.

Bloomberg.com

Between a Bloc and A Hard Place

Bloc sees no alternative but to back softwood pact

I would suggest an alternative title; Conservatives survive thanks to Seperatists.
Or perhaps, Quebec First, Canada Last. Or even; Softheaded Poltics Save Harper. Or... well you get the idea.

So what is the deal the Tories will make the Bloc for their support inquiring minds want to know.

But the Bloc also wants the federal government to come up with a $390-million aide package to prop up the struggling industry. ''The question is not to say what is better for the Bloc but what is better for Quebec,'' Duceppe said.

Of course that is a cheap price to pay by the desperate Tories to gain back votes in that nation. However in this play for votes in Quebec, the Bloc has not only sold out Canada, but their own industry in Quebec. They come away with a pig in the poke.

The Bloc yesterday also pressed the Tories for more aid to the Quebec softwood industry, but did not make this a condition of voting for the deal. Mr. Bernier offered no promises of aid for the softwood sector, saying what forestry companies really want is their share of the $4-billion in refunded duties. "What industry asks us is to [get their] money back," he said. "That will be the best aid we can give to the industry."Bloc move assures softwood agreement will pass

Contrary to Mr. Duceppe's assertions its about what is best for Quebec it is what is best for positioning both the Bloc and the Tories in Quebec for votes. Its a sellout by anyother name, all for a bump in the polls. Shame, shame. NDP blasts Bloc for supporting Harper softwood sell-out

Also See

Softwood

Free Trade



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Softwood Redux

How did I miss this.....Hard feelings up north over softwood trade pact
I particularly liked this quote nothing like a little self aggrandizing back patting

Aboard Air Force One, en route back to Washington from the Gulf Coast, President Bush spoke with Harper, according to White House press secretary Scott McClellan. The two leaders congratulated each other on bringing the long-running dispute to an end, he said.

But a day later and a billion bucks shy this happens US files softwood appeal despite deal

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has threatened to withdraw his crucial support for the tentative Canada-U.S. softwood lumber truce after learning that the U.S. government has decided to legally challenge a Canadian victory before a NAFTA trade dispute panel.There were also indications Friday that other potential deal-breakers -- including a clause that could scuttle B.C.'s new market-based timber pricing system -- were embedded in the terms Ottawa and Washington agreed to Thursday. It could take months to flesh out the final agreement

And in case you mistakenly thought the Harpocrite was doing this for the good of Canada, or the industry well think again, he was looking to line his governments pockets. Lose a billion to the US but recoup a billion in taxes.

Stephen Harper's Conservative government stands to reap a windfall approaching $1 billion in taxes on duties being refunded to Canadian lumber producers under a controversial deal struck to end the softwood trade war with the United States.ut many lumber companies are now facing hefty federal tax bills — in some cases, as high as 35 per cent — on the duties as soon as they're refunded by Washington.Ottawa reaps windfall on wood pact

And since this now is a matter of money for his coffers, well the Softwood lumber debate in the house now becomes a Confidence Vote. Surprize, Surprize.

Because of those tax measures, the final trade deal will eventually face a confidence vote in the House of Commons. That means if opposition parties, which have criticized the framework deal, vote against the measure, it could bring down Harper's minority government and trigger a federal election.Ottawa reaps windfall on wood pact

Note to Blogging Tories the government, is the government, is the government, a rose by any other name.


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U.S. moves to double tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports


CALGARY — A move by the U.S. Commerce Department to increase preliminary tariffs on softwood lumber imports from Canada, if finalized, will raise producer costs and cut into their profits but is unlikely to affect prices to consumers of wood products, analysts say.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The department's recommendation to more than double the "all others" preliminary countervailing and anti-dumping rate to 18.32 per cent from 8.99 per cent on Friday drew criticism from the Canadian government and industry and applause from the lumber industry south of the border.

The increase is unlikely to result in higher lumber prices because they've more than doubled in the past year to all-time record highs, said Kevin Mason, managing director of ERA Forest Products Research.

"Prices are supply-and-demand driven," he said. "(Tariffs) drive the cost up for producers but it's not going to affect prices."

Because it's a preliminary tariff rate, current cash deposit rates will continue to apply until the finalized rates are published, likely in November.

“U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber products are a tax on the American people," said Mary Ng, minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, in a statement.

“We will keep challenging these unwarranted and damaging duties through all available avenues. We remain confident that a negotiated solution to this long-standing trade issue is not only possible, but in the best interest of both our countries.”

In a note to investors, RBC analyst Paul Quinn said finalized rates from the previous administrative review process wound up being largely in line with the preliminary rates.

"We think higher rates will incentivize producers to push harder for a resolution to the softwood lumber dispute, which could unlock significant cash," he said, noting an estimate that collected tariffs from Canadian producers on deposit add up to more than $4 billion.

Friday's rates applied to individual companies vary in impact, he said, with West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. up slightly to 11.4 from nine per cent, Canfor Corp. up to 21 from 4.6 per cent, Resolute Forest Products Inc. jumping to 30.2 from 20.3 per cent, and J.D. Irving up to 15.8 from 4.2 per cent.

Former president Donald Trump's administration imposed a 20 per cent "all others" tariff on Canadian softwood in 2018, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but lowered it to about nine per cent late last year after a decision favouring Canada by the World Trade Organization.

The increased tariffs will hurt American consumers who are faced with a market where supply can't keep up with demand, said Susan Yurkovich, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council.

“We find the significant increase in today’s preliminary rates troubling," she said in a news release.

"It is particularly egregious given lumber prices are at a record high and demand is skyrocketing in the U.S. as families across the country look to repair, remodel and build new homes.

"As U.S. producers remain unable to meet domestic demand, the ongoing actions of the industry, resulting in these unwarranted tariffs, will ultimately further hurt American consumers by adding to their costs."

She called on the U.S. industry to end its decades-long campaign alleging Canadian lumber is unfairly subsidized and instead work with Canada to meet demand for "low-carbon wood products" the world wants.

In a separate news release, Jason Brochu, U.S. Lumber Coalition co-chair, applauded the Commerce Department's commitment to enforce trade laws against "subsidized and unfairly traded" Canadian lumber imports.

The coalition says the U.S. industry remains open to a new U.S.-Canada softwood lumber trade agreement "if and when" Canada demonstrates it is serious about negotiations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:WFG, TSX:RFP, TSX:CFP)

Dan Healing, The Canadian Press

Job Loss It's The Environmentalists Fault

Two Quebec Ministers in the Harper Government, the Minister of Labour and the Minister of Industry, state that its the environmental movement that have caused the job losses around softwood. Why because the Quebec provincial government imposed environmental laws on the private sector without consulting them and bringing them in gradually. You know like having the private sector use voluntary compliance. Oh gosh I can't wait for the Tories Clean Air Act.

Blackburn said Ottawa's environmental legislation, to be tabled Tuesday, "is a step in the right direction" because it still allows businesses to flourish.

Of course the job loss in the softwood industry has nothing to do with the Tories failure to bail out that sector, while waiting for their Softwood lumber deal to pass the house. Nope, not a thing to do with that. Of course industry can continue to function on the promise of future funding from the softwood deal, yep they can take that to the bank.

See

Softwood



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Softwood Redux

Another NAFTA victory for Canada over the softwood dispute with the U.S. and as usual another challenge by the U.S. protectionist lobby. Over to you Mr. Harper.

Canada wins final lumber ruling
National Post - 19 hours ago
WASHINGTON - Canada hailed a major victory yesterday in the long-running softwood lumber battle with the United States after a NAFTA panel made a final ruling in its favour. Spokesmen for the Canadian lumber ...
NAFTA panel ruling removes softwood duties if US doesn't appeal CBC News
Canada wins second NAFTA decision on softwood tariffs


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Softwood Solution

So here is the solution to the Softwood lumber dispute, do it the good old fashioned capitalist way with mergers and acquisitions. However do not expect the corporate welfare bums in Canada's and Quebec's forestry industry to give up their whining and dining at the taxpayers expense.

Canfor pushes into U.S. forests

Takes over rival in softwood spat

Jason Kirby, Financial Post

Published: Friday, January 20, 2006

VANCOUVER - At one time Mack Singleton was a thorn in the side of Canadian lumber producers. As former head of the U.S. lobby group that pushed heavily for softwood duties he once compared Canada's economic system with that of North Korea and Cuba.

Now Mr. Singleton and South Carolina-based New South Companies Inc., which he co-owns and runs, is a cornerstone of Vancouver-based Canfor Corp.'s acquisition strategy that will probably see Canada's largest forestry company snap up other U.S. industry players.

On Wednesday, Canfor said it would pay US$205-million for New South in an all-cash transaction, diversifying its business away from British Columbia and giving it access to lumber from a major European producer through a marketing agreement.

"We've committed to growing with our customers and that is what we'll do," said Jim Shepherd, CEO of Canfor. "This is a step for us to do that."

The irony is some Canadian forest companies such as Canfor are flush with cash partly because the ongoing softwood lumber dispute has forced them to become more efficient. That money could be used to consolidate the fragmented mom-and-pop lumber industry south of the border.

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Softwood Redux

Harper said this would never happen again when he forced Canada's Lumber industry to accept his billion dollar bribe to the Americans with his Softwood Lumber Accord.

The U.S. asked an independent panel to resolve a dispute over a softwood lumber accord with Canada, saying the country is ignoring a cap on exports to the U.S. and that Canadian firms are still getting unfair subsidies.

Just like Harpers new formula for Provincial transfer payments were to end the years of bickering over equalization.

Didn't happen.

This is a government that likes to say it doesn't just talk it takes action..... forgetting Newtons Third Law.



SEE:

How The MacDonald Commission Changed Canada

Job Loss It's The Environmentalists Fault

There Is No Free Market

Behind the Eight Ball

US Housing Market Crash

Between a Bloc and A Hard Place

Softwood Republican Slush Fund

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Canada to challenge extension of US softwood lumber duties

Reuters
Tue, August 22, 2023 

 Finished lumber is seen at West Fraser Pacific Inland Resources sawmill in Smithers

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada will challenge what Ottawa described as an "unfair, unjust and illegal" extension of U.S. import duties on Canadian softwood lumber products, the trade ministry said on Tuesday.

The softwood lumber tariffs are the legacy of a decades-long trade dispute over the structure of Canada's timber sector that could not be resolved when a quota agreement expired in 2015. U.S. producers say Canada unfairly subsidizes its lumber sector.

The U.S. Commerce Department in July set a duty rate of 7.99% on the product.

Canada on Monday filed notices of intent to commence judicial review of those duties, the trade ministry said in a statement, adding that Ottawa remained willing to discuss a negotiated outcome with Washington. The ministry has routinely filed challenges under the rules of U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.

"For years, the United States has imposed unfair, unjust and illegal duties on Canadian softwood lumber, hurting Canadian industry and increasing housing costs in both countries," Trade Minister Mary Ng said in the statement.

The United States has based its tariffs on a finding that Canadian timber harvested from federal and provincial lands with low government-set stumpage fees constitutes an unfair subsidy, while most U.S. timber is harvested from private land at market rates.

The U.S. Trade Representative's office said it was trying to ensure a level playing field.

"We are prepared to discuss another softwood lumber agreement when Canada is ready to address the underlying issues related to subsidization and fair competition so that Canadian lumber imports do not injure the U.S. industry," a USTR spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; editing by Susan Heavey, Devika Syamnath and Andy Sullivan)

Compromise Saves Softwood Deal

While claiming to have gotten more concessions from the Americans what has really saved the Harper Softwood Deal is lowered expectations of Canadian Lumber industry support...... "With Emerson softening his [95-per-cent] threshold requirement for approval, there wouldn't be enough companies to kill it," he said. Like the whole softwood deal this is a case of lowered expectations. And it is the end of Free Trade accords like NAFTA. Mr. Herman noted that for Canadian industry, it does not represent free trade but "managed trade that gives you some years of commercial peace. Many of us are concerned for what this means for dispute resolution under the NAFTA. Obviously it doesn't work," he said.

Also See

American Exceptionalism

Softwood

Free Trade



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Softwood Baseball Bat

Well the Harpocrites have given the American protectionists a big stick with which to beat us with.

US lumber producers may use softwood deal money to sue Canada

A stick bought and paid for by us with illegal tarrifs,ouch.

But the pain doesn't stop there.....

The agreement includes a cap on Canada's share of the U.S. lumber market and a sliding tax triggered when the North American price falls below $355 US for a thousand board feet. UBS Investment Research analyst Jaret Anderson said "the fact Canadian producers will pay a larger export tax in a weak lumber market may be problematic for Canadian producers."Good in good times, but . . .

ouch, ouch, ohh stop the pain.

But at least the Harpocrites made this guy happy.....which was all that mattered to them......U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins yesterday called the softwood lumber deal the proof that Canada matters in Washington, and the precursor of a new era of co-operation between the two countries.US hails new era after deal

That's just adding insult to injury. Stop already. Oh the pain, the pain.

More criticism of the Softwood Sellout


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Even Brits Get It

One of the top ranking British Capitalists understands that America is no friend of Free Trade....a message that hits home with Canadians.

Especially after Harpers Softwood lumber sell out.

Now imagine Thomas d'Aquino, president and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives saying something like this....


Digby Jones, the former head of the CBI, will tonight use his first speech since leaving the employers' organisation to attack Britain's special relationship with a "bullying, protectionist" United States.

Addressing the Institute of Directors in Birmingham, Sir Digby will call for the UK to recover its independence not just from Brussels but from Washington.

"One of the most shocking and worrying aspects of loss of independence has been a refusal to stand up to the United States in so many areas," he will argue in a speech called "I want my country back".

Sir Digby will say he is not talking about Iran, Afghanistan or Lebanon, but about areas where "our country could have and should have stood up and fought a protectionist, bullying America - in the fields of trade, investment and the rule of law"

Nope neither can I.

Thoms d'Aquino and the CCCE are integrationists, a quizzling class of capitalist compradors. The FTA and NAFTA were never about Free Trade but an intergrated market in North America, the Contientalist dream of Bay Street.

An example of this contientalism is TD PriceWaterhouse.Whose ads in America are for its investment banking business Price Waterhouse that was bought out by Canada's TD bank. In Canada the TD Bank, formerly the Toronto Domion, now includes TD Price Waterhouse, the former Canada Trust and TDNorthBank an American bank.

The reason the banks want the ability to merge in Canada is for market capitalization that would allow them to buy into the American market even more.

And this is the whole short coming of the CCCE they want our poilitcal economy to look like their intergrated North American boardrooms. The shortsightedness of the Contientalists produced Harpers softwood deal.

But capitalism is global in reach. And this is anathema to the conservative continetalists. They do want a steady state capitalist economy, one that shuts out the world and locks us into Fortress North America. But as always the wiff and poof of capitalism gets in the way.

When the big Canadian Resource companies Teck-Caminco, Inco, Falconbridge began trying to buy each other out to create the ultimate Resource monopoly, they left themselves open to take over by equally voracious global capitalists from abroad.

Their failure was to look abroad for investment opportunities. They really were risk averse to playing in the global marketplace. They only looked as far as their back yard. Unlike Indias Mittal Steel which invests globally and owns major steel companies in the U.S. and now owns Defasco.

Contientalism in Canada has been tried before its called the Auto Pact, and today as the Big 3 American auto companies collapse before the onslaught of global competition, we find ourselves bailing them out, while Toyota, Honda, and their global competitiors invest in Canada.

Free Trade means you are willing to play in the global marketplace not just stay at home buying up each others businesses. Genuine Free Trade is not contientalism, it is in essence Fair Trade globally.

While the economies of rich countries will continue to grow, "a key policy issue should be to find ways to distribute that growth beyond the super-wealthy who have benefited the most for the past two or so decades of growth."An interesting exercise is now underway in the United States to deal with these challenges. It is called The Hamilton Project, and its leaders include Robert Rubin, former U.S. Secretary the Treasury and now chairman of the executive committee at Citigroup Inc. We don't have anything like this in Canada.A recent discussion paper for The Hamilton Project argued that "achieving an equitable distribution of the benefits and costs of trade will require strong, effective government policies," adding that "the need for such policies will only grow more important, as nations like China and India become increasingly dominant forces in the world economy."

Also See

Softwood

Free Trade

Fordism

GM

Free Market

AFRICA

Free Trade; Hong Kong & Somalia

Libertarian Economics

Monoop

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Canada launches challenges to U.S. softwood lumber duties

Laura Dhillon Kane, Bloomberg News

Canada is launching challenges to the latest U.S. duties on softwood lumber, arguing the “unjustified” tariffs are harming a key Canadian sector and driving up housing costs in both countries.

Trade Minister Mary Ng will announce Friday that Canada is taking the fight to the U.S. Court of International Trade as well as a dispute-resolution mechanism under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. 

“For years, the United States has imposed unfair, unjust and illegal duties on Canadian softwood lumber, hurting Canadian industry and creating rising housing costs in both our countries,” she said in a statement provided to Bloomberg on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Commerce released the results of its fourth administrative review of Canadian softwood lumber exports earlier this sumer, landing on a new combined duty rate of 7.99 per cent, down slightly from 8.59 per cent previously.

American producers argue that the Canadian federal and provincial governments unfairly subsidize the lumber sector. The U.S. Lumber Coalition applauded the Commerce move last month.

In the statement to be released Friday, Ng said she has raised the issue with her U.S. counterpart Katherine Tai at every opportunity.

“Canada continues to remain ready and willing to discuss a negotiated outcome to the dispute that provides the stability and predictability the sector needs to ensure its continued growth and success.  

Canadian lumber producers are benefitting from price rises amid record wildfires: Researcher  5:44

 

U$ TARIFFS

A forgotten Canada-U.S. lumber spat seen adding costs to U.S. homes

Jen Skerritt, 

Bloomberg News

Jul 28, 2022

A lingering trade dispute between the US and Canada is expected to keep tariffs on softwood lumber in place, adding to soaring inflation costs.

The US is expected to lower duty rates on Canadian softwood lumber in a ruling next week, but not get rid of them, said Susan Yurkovich, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council. That means Canadian companies will still have to pay tariffs hovering near 11 per cent, heaping more costs on American homebuilders and buyers, she said.

The Trump administration slapped tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber in 2017, saying the industry is unfairly subsidized. The US raised rates on imports in 2021 even as an unprecedented rally lifted prices to record highs during a pandemic-fueled homebuilding and renovation boom. US builders get more than a quarter of their lumber from Canada, the world’s largest softwood lumber exporter. 

West Fraser Timber Co. Chief Executive Officer Ray Ferris said Thursday “there doesn’t appear to be anything meaningfully happening” to resolve the spat. 

“It’s very frustrating particularly at a time when lots of people are facing a lot inflationary pressure,” Yurkovich said in an interview. “The US industry is putting an additional tax on consumers.”

Let's make a deal, Canada urges U.S. amid latest 'baseless' softwood lumber duties

The Canadian Press

Canada is urging the United States to make a good-faith effort at negotiating an end to the interminable bilateral dispute over softwood lumber. 

International Trade Minister Mary Ng is making the overture after a fresh U.S. Commerce Department review maintained duties on softwood imports from Canada.

Ng says the duties, while modestly lower, remain an unfair, baseless and punitive measure that hurts the economy on both sides of the border. 

She says a negotiated settlement is the only way the two countries will ever fully resolve the decades-old dispute. 

Such a deal is unlikely: the U.S. has a fundamental problem with a regulatory regime in Canada that it says puts American producers at a disadvantage.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has said the U.S. would be willing to negotiate, but only if Canada does away with its provincial stumpage fee system. 

"An immediate negotiated solution to this long-standing trade issue is in the best interests of both our countries," Ng said in a statement.

"Canada is disappointed that the United States is not meaningfully engaging in discussions on a return to predictable cross-border trade in softwood lumber." 

The Commerce Department established a combined "all others" duty rate of 7.99 per cent, only slightly less than the 8.59 per cent established after the last administrative review. 

Ottawa, meanwhile, will keep up the fight through the dispute resolution tools in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the World Trade Organization and the courts in the U.S., Ng said. 

"The only fair outcome would be for the United States to cease applying these baseless duties." 

In Canada, lumber-producing provinces set so-called stumpage fees for timber harvested from Crown land — a system that U.S. producers, forced to pay market rates, say amounts to an unfair subsidy.

Federal officials in Ottawa have said Canada would never agree to implement such a fundamental change to the way a key Crown resource is managed before the two sides have even sat down.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2023.

Canfor Corp. reports $43.9M loss in second

quarter amid tough pulp, lumber conditions

The Canadian Press

Wildfires in Western Canada continue to disrupt Canfor Corp. operations as the company reported a loss of $43.9 million in the second quarter.

With new records set in both Alberta and B.C. for total hectares burned, the company said operational constraints are expected to continue well into the third quarter of 2023. The extreme conditions are also disrupting the company's access to fibre as well as harvest and hauling activities, Canfor said.

"While it is too early to determine the long-term fibre supply impacts, we have seen significant short-term disruptions to our operations, including a three-week curtailment of our facility in Fox Creek, Alberta in the second quarter," said Canfor president and CEO Donald Kayne on a call with analysts. 

The company said it will assess the full extent of the fires' impact on its operations, including sustainable timber supplies and future harvesting plans, over the coming months. 

The loss in the second quarter was down from the $373.8 million profit Canfor reported during the second quarter last year. However, it was an improvement from the first quarter, when Canfor reported a loss of $142 million. 

Declining global pulp market conditions weighed heavily on its results in the second quarter, the company said in a press release Thursday, as did pressure on global lumber market fundamentals and pricing. 

European and U.S. South operations were strong, helping partially offset weaker results from the company's western Canadian lumber business, Kayne said in the release. 

Sales during the second quarter were $1.45 billion, down from $2.17 billion a year earlier. 

The recent strike at B.C. ports will likely weigh on Canfor's results in the third quarter, said RBC analyst Paul Quinn in a note. 

The strike "severely impacted" the supply chain for subsidiary Canfor Pulp Products Inc., said the company's president and CEO Kevin Edgson on the analyst call. Around 70 per cent of the company's pulp is shipped through the affected ports, and so the strike led to a weeklong curtailment at the Northwood pulp mill. 

"We anticipate the supply chain challenges to persist through much of the third quarter," said Edgson. 

Canfor Pulp reported a net loss of $28.4 million in the second quarter, down from a loss of $5.7 million a year earlier. Sales were $249.5 million, down from $288.9 million last year. 

Overall, Canfor Corp.'s second-quarter earnings were better than expected, said Quinn, noting that the company expects lumber markets to benefit from a slight improvement in residential construction activity in the third quarter. 

High interest rates are expected to keep existing home inventories at low levels of supply, Canfor said in its release. 

"It is anticipated that new homebuilders will continue to offer concessions, however, in an attempt to potentially relieve some affordability pressures for prospective homeowners. As a result, residential construction activity is projected to experience a slight improvement through the third quarter of 2023 as the underlying demand for housing in North America remains."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2023.