BC Lumber Trade Council applauds NAFTA ruling
The BC Lumber Trade Council is in full support of a recent decision by the NAFTA Panel reviewing whether U.S. lumber industry is “injured” by Canadian imports.
The panel has send the case back to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) for a new determination regarding lumber imports and said the U.S. lumber industry is not being undermined by imports from Canada.
“The BC Lumber Trade Council is gratified to see the NAFTA Panel’s ruling today that the USITC’s determination that the U.S. lumber industry is ‘injured’ by Canadian lumber imports is flawed in a number of important respects,” said Susan Yurkovich, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council.
Based in Vancouver, the BC Trade council represents lumber producers in British Columbia, Canada.
In its decision, the NAFTA Panel questioned how the USITC could reach an affirmative determination of injury as the U.S. industry realized one of its most profitable periods in its history.
The panel also found that the USITC failed to take into account its own finding that there was limited substitutability – or attenuated competition – between Canadian and domestic products, rendering its volume and price analyses flawed. Additionally, the panel found fault with aspects of the USITC’s conclusion that Canadian imports suppressed U.S. lumber prices during the period of investigation.
The panel has given the USITC 90 days to issue a new determination.
Canada is also challenging the U.S. Commerce Department’s antidumping and countervailing duty determinations before separate NAFTA panels.
The BC Trade council represents lumber producers in British Columbia, Canada.
In the past year, lumber producers in the region have been hard hit by sagging lumber prices and falling demand. The result has been numerous plant curtailments and closings.
The panel has send the case back to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) for a new determination regarding lumber imports and said the U.S. lumber industry is not being undermined by imports from Canada.
“The BC Lumber Trade Council is gratified to see the NAFTA Panel’s ruling today that the USITC’s determination that the U.S. lumber industry is ‘injured’ by Canadian lumber imports is flawed in a number of important respects,” said Susan Yurkovich, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council.
Based in Vancouver, the BC Trade council represents lumber producers in British Columbia, Canada.
In its decision, the NAFTA Panel questioned how the USITC could reach an affirmative determination of injury as the U.S. industry realized one of its most profitable periods in its history.
The panel also found that the USITC failed to take into account its own finding that there was limited substitutability – or attenuated competition – between Canadian and domestic products, rendering its volume and price analyses flawed. Additionally, the panel found fault with aspects of the USITC’s conclusion that Canadian imports suppressed U.S. lumber prices during the period of investigation.
The panel has given the USITC 90 days to issue a new determination.
Canada is also challenging the U.S. Commerce Department’s antidumping and countervailing duty determinations before separate NAFTA panels.
The BC Trade council represents lumber producers in British Columbia, Canada.
In the past year, lumber producers in the region have been hard hit by sagging lumber prices and falling demand. The result has been numerous plant curtailments and closings.