Canada Claims NAFTA Panel on AD Case on Softwood Lumber Decided in Its Favor

Canada and the U.S. issued statements about a panel decision on softwood lumber under NAFTA's AD/CVD dispute chapter, but the antidumping duty case, which was brought years ago under NAFTA, not under its successor, is not posted on the USMCA Secretariat's docket, and neither country would share the ruling.

Canada's trade minister, Mary Ng, said Oct. 5: "Canada is pleased that the NAFTA dispute panel agrees that elements of the U.S. dumping determination are inconsistent with U.S. law. These duties are unwarranted -- the only fair outcome is for the United States to revoke all duties on Canadian softwood lumber without further delay.

“The panel directed the U.S. Department of Commerce to review key aspects of its determination. Canada will continue to have an active voice during this process. ...

“For years, the United States has imposed unjust and illegal duties on Canadian softwood lumber, disrupting our deeply integrated supply chains. We will continue to advocate for Canadian softwood lumber workers and industry as we pursue other legal challenges of unjustifiable U.S. duties.”

A spokesperson from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said: "As we have said previously, we continue to share with the Canadians that we are committed to the robust enforcement of U.S. trade remedy laws. Ensuring that U.S. softwood lumber producers can compete on a level playing field against unfairly traded Canadian imports is an important priority for the Administration. 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.”