U.S. Lumber Coalition Responds to Prime Minister Carney Statement

Canadian Prime Minister Carney and BC Premier Eby are advancing the idea of initiating trade agreement negotiations to set aside the enforcement of the U.S. trade laws against unfairly traded and unfairly priced Canadian lumber imports. Premier Eby makes clear that Canada wants the United States to voluntarily terminate these effective U.S. trade law cases in order to “secure jobs for Canadian workers.” Canada does not under its own laws and policies voluntarily give up its remedies against unfairly traded imports from other countries but they are now asking the United States to do precisely that for their benefit. Effectively Canada is asking the United States to do a favor for Canadian workers at the expense of U.S. workers.

Zoltan van Heyningen, Executive Director of the U.S. Lumber Coalition responded that “Canada does not simply get to choose whether or not it is subject to our trade laws. Antidumping and anti-subsidy duties are set to rise because the U.S. Department of Commerce has once again confirmed that Canadian lumber producers engaged in egregious and harmful unfair trade practices.”

“The United States has collected over $7 billion dollars and counting in duties directly from Canadian lumber producers as a result of these ongoing trade cases, and Canada’s request to terminate these cases and refund money to Canadian producers would be the single biggest bailout of the Canadian lumber industry funded by U.S. taxpayers and would come at the expense of U.S. workers and loggers, added van Heyningen.”

Andrew Miller, Chair/Owner of Stimson Lumber Company, applauded President Trump for making strong U.S. trade law enforcement a key cornerstone of his America First trade agenda, stating that “the strict and unyielding enforcement of U.S. trade laws by President Trump against ongoing Canadian unfair trade practices has resulted in massive investments in the United States to increase lumber production capacity, and we must do everything we can to continue this trend.”

“Canada’s unsustainable excess lumber capacity and production, of which 60 to 70 percent must be shipped into the United States because Canada has no other viable markets, is the root cause of Canada’s continued and harmful unfair trade practices,” stated van Heyningen.

“Not only is it critical to continue enforcing our trade laws to offset the harm of Canadian unfair trade practices, but it is also essential to implement additional measures under Section 232 to address the underlying cause of Canadian unfair trade practices,” added van Heyningen. “This is why the U.S. Lumber Coalition strongly applauds President Trump’s initiative to launching the Section 232 investigation and his strong commitment to further increase the domestic production of softwood lumber in the process.”

“We must not yield to Canadian demands to set aside our trade laws and have U.S. taxpayers fund the single biggest bailout of the Canadian lumber industry,” concluded van Heyningen, “that would be nonsensical and a true injustice to U.S. workers, loggers, and families who depend on a strong and vibrant U.S. forestry industry.”

U.S. lumber industry and workers letter to President Trump on the need for continued strong enforcement of the U.S. trade laws to keep expanding U.S. lumber manufacturing and availability to build more American homes with American lumber.  https://uslumbercoalition.org/story/u-s-lumber-industry-and-workers-letter-to-president-trump/

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. The Coalition supports the full enforcement of the U.S. trade laws to allow the U.S. industry to invest and grow to its natural size without being impaired by unfairly traded imports. Continued full enforcement of the U.S. trade laws will strengthen domestic supply lines by maximizing long-term domestic production and lumber availability produced by U.S. workers to build U.S. homes. For more information, please visit the Coalition’s website at www.uslumbercoalition.org.

Contact:

Zoltan van Heyningen – zoltan@uslumbercoalition.org – (202) 805-9133

Source: The U.S. Lumber Coalition; American Loggers Council