Canada is formally challenging the latest duties imposed by the US on softwood lumber.
International Trade Minister Mary Ng says in a statement Friday Canada will be launching a challenge in the US Court of International Trade. Canada can make the challenge through the dispute mechanism in the current free trade agreement with the USA and Mexico.
The minister says the duties are unjustified, and wants to find a “mutually acceptable resolution to this dispute.”
The dispute has dragged on for decades. American lumber producers say Canada’s system of Crown land and stumpage fees gives Canadian producers an unfair advantage.
Canadian exporters must currently pay average duties of just under 8%.
More than half of BC’s annual softwood lumber production is exported to the United States.
