(Washington) Ottawa opposes the latest US decision to continue imposing tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.
Federal Commerce Minister Mary Ng has announced that Canada is now seeking a judicial review of administrative reviews conducted last month by the US Treasury Department into these tariffs – which she calls “unfair, unfair unjust and illegal”.
The latest U.S. Administrative Review provided slight tariff relief, but kept the combined rate at 7.99%.
Minister Ng is also urging U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to sit down and broker a resolution to the decades-old dispute between the two neighbors.
Achieving such a deal would be difficult, however, because the U.S. fundamentally challenges Canada’s long-standing regulatory system that it says disadvantages U.S. lumber producers.
Tai said the United States would be willing to negotiate, but only if Canada abandoned the regime that allows provinces to set prices for timber taken from Crown land.
“For years, the United States has imposed inequitable, unfair and illegal duties on softwood lumber from Canada, harming Canadian industry and driving up housing costs in both of our countries,” said Minister Ng said in a statement.
“Canada is taking the necessary steps to actively defend the interests of its softwood lumber industry and the workers and communities that depend on it. »
