The World Trade Organization has upheld CanadaB次元官网网址檚 challenge to the latest round of countervailing duties on softwood lumber imports to the U.S., in what the B.C. industry organization calls a B次元官网网址渟cathing indictmentB次元官网网址� of U.S. government trade actions.

B.C. Premier John Horgan said while the decision is welcome, the decades-long dispute isnB次元官网网址檛 going away.

B次元官网网址淲hile this decision is a victory for B.C.B次元官网网址檚 lumber producers, immediate relief is unlikely,B次元官网网址� Horgan said in a statement Aug. 24. B次元官网网址淥ur work continues until we bring an end to the unfair U.S. duties on Canadian softwood exports.B次元官网网址�

The identifies 40 instances where the U.S. Department of Commerce finding of subsidy was not supported by the evidence, the B.C. Lumber Trade Council said Aug. 24. Among them, the WTO trade panel upheld CanadaB次元官网网址檚 arguments on log export regulation, supplying electricity to mills and the U.S. governmentB次元官网网址檚 use of Washington log prices to impose penalties for B.C. stumpage on Crown timber.

B次元官网网址淔or more than three years, our industry has paid billions of dollars in countervailing duties that todayB次元官网网址檚 decision confirmed should never have been paid in the first place,B次元官网网址� said Susan Yurkovich, president of the .

B次元官网网址淭his report is a scathing indictment of the U.S. Department of CommerceB次元官网网址檚 subsidy findings and the biased process it followed in reaching them. Unfortunately this is just the latest chapter in the ongoing attack on the Canadian lumber industry. Each of the prior two lumber disputes ended with neutral, international tribunals issuing rulings that forced Commerce to rescind their flawed and unsupported findings for similar reasons. TodayB次元官网网址檚 decision is an important step towards what we expect will be the same result.B次元官网网址�

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