The BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) strongly condemns the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to once again increase anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber.
The rate was raised to 20.56% today (Friday).
In April, the US Department of Commerce announced a combined countervailing and anti-dumping duty rate of 34.45%. This rate was an increase from the previous 14.5%.
The group says the trade actions continue to harm workers, families, and communities across British Columbia and Canada—and have gone unresolved for far too long.
COFI is calling on Ottawa to make resolution of the softwood lumber dispute a top national priority.
The forestry group stated BC must urgently strengthen the conditions to succeed here at home. That starts with treating forestry as a major project to reach a target harvest of 45 million cubic metres and taking immediate action to restore wood flow, protect jobs, and stabilize the sector—while laying the groundwork for long-term competitiveness.
COFI issued a number of points on how to immediately assist the sector:
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- Accelerate the Path to 45 million cubic metres of annual harvest by unlocking near-term volume through fast-track permitting, BC Timber Sales (BCTS) auctions, and expanded salvage and thinning operations.
- Launch a dedicated permit triage and acceleration team—made up of experienced forestry professionals—to resolve the backlog of active permits and enable new applications. A functional single-window permitting system should be a long-term goal, but action is needed now.
- Break down cross-ministry barriers by aligning environmental, reconciliation, and economic priorities—reducing contradictory policies and delays that paralyze the sector.
- Immediately release ready-to-sell BCTS volumes to get wood flowing to mills today—not months from now.
- Support First Nations with the capacity and tools to expedite referrals, co-develop land use plans, and increase revenue sharing—so that partnerships can move at the speed of opportunity.
