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Builders Support Commerce Plan on Canadian Lumber

A new Commerce Department proposal to clarify the definition of market-based pricing of Canadian timber is an important step toward eliminating tariffs on lumber coming into the U.S., according to NAHB First Vice President Bobby Rayburn.

While NAHB believes that Canadian lumber is not subsidized, a clearer pricing system in Canada would be in the best interests of all parties in the current dispute over the import duties, Rayburn said.

Under the Commerce Department proposal, the Canadian provinces would adopt open, market-based systems for timber sales. Once those were phased in, the U.S. would rescind the 27% countervailing and anti-dumping duties that were imposed last year on Canadian lumber shipments.

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“We strongly oppose any new measures that would impose a border tax or quotas on Canadian lumber because this would just substitute one tax on American consumers for another,” Rayburn added.

NAHB continues to maintain, however, that the best way to ensure free lumber trade is for Canada to continue its legal appeals of the duties before the World Trade Organization and North American Free Trade Agreement.

Canada has already scored significant victories in its bid to break down trade barriers, and is likely to win its legal challenge to the U.S. tariffs, Rayburn noted.
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