WTO body sides with U.S. in Canadian lumber dispute

WTO body sides with U.S. in Canadian lumber dispute    The appellate body of the World Trade Organization upheld a finding that the United States did not violate trade rules in determining that subsidies were being granted to Canadian softwood lumber producers.
   The ruling forms part of a dispute between Canada and the U.S. over the trade in Canadian softwood lumber.
   The report is available from the WTO at https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/257abr_e.doc.
   The U.S. lumber industry applauded the WTO appellate body’s decision.
   “These are historic victories for U.S. sawmills and mill workers, U.S. landowners and Canadian taxpayers,” said Rusty Wood, chairman of the Washington-based Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports.
   “This should be the beginning of the end for provincial timber policies that give timber to Canadian mills at a fraction of its value and artificially encourage production,' he added.
   “These subsidies and the dumping of Canadian lumber are decimating the U.S. lumber industry,” Wood alleged.
   Currently, U.S. duties imposed on Canadian softwood lumber amount to about $3 million a day.
   “We have expressed our support for compromise settlement terms that would lead to competitive pricing over a phase-in period with interim measures against the unfair trade,” Wood said. “Unless and until the two countries finalize a settlement, U.S. law requires a full offset of the subsidies and dumping through import duties.”