The President of the BC Lumber Trade Council believes the increased tariffs placed on provincial softwood lumber products is a form of protectionism.
Yesterday (Tuesday), the US Department of Commerce announced it’s nearly doubling its countervailing and anti-dumping duties to 14.54% – this after the rate was 7.99% in July of 2023.
President, Kurt Niquidet told Vista Radio they will continue to use the litigation process to hammer out a more tangible solution.
“We would like to see that expedited – it’s been sort of a slow process but we are confident we will prevail like the avenues through the Kuzma Dispute Resolution Panel.”
“We are always open to a negotiated settlement as well. It is another avenue but we need the US to come to the table. We are willing to negotiate but we want a fair deal for Canada.”
He added the increased duties will do more harm than good on both sides of the border.
“It’s just adding to the cost of operating in British Columbia and shutting us out of our major market. It’s also doing damage to the US themselves, the fact that it’s increasing the cost of lumber to consumers in the country.”
In December of 2023, provincial officials headed to Japan to sell more BC lumber to that country – in 2022, BC sold Japan $1.45 billion worth of forestry products.
“There has been a lot of effort to diversify our market. We have established long-standing relationships with several customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region including Japan but the United States is key for us as well,” added Niquidet.
(Files by Brendan Pawliw-MyPGNow)
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