Homebuilders slam government decision to impose 20% duty on Canadian softwood lumber

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Posted By: Steve Barnes April 25, 2017

ConDig (24-Apr-17).  Leaders of the US house building industry have blasted a decision by the government to slap an import duty averaging 20% on Canadian softwood lumber.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said introduction of the tariff will raise house builders’ costs and impact housing affordability.

“NAHB is deeply disappointed in this short-sighted action by the US Department of Commerce that will ultimately do nothing to resolve issues causing the US-Canadian lumber trade dispute but will negatively harm American consumers and housing affordability,” said NAHB chairman Granger MacDonald.

The comments come as US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday that the department had reached a preliminary determination and is set to impose countervailing duties ranging from 3% to 24% on imported softwood lumber, with an average of about 20%.

It also comes as the Department of Commerce announced earlier this week to postpone its preliminary ruling on antidumping duties from May 4 to June 23.

Imports of softwood lumber from Canada were valued at an estimated $5.66 billion last year. It is estimated that about a third of lumber used in the US last year was imported, the bulk of the which – at more than 95% – came from Canada.

A softwood trade agreement between the US and Canada expired in October 2015, with negotiations ending in a stalemate towards the end of last year following demands by the US to reduce Canada’s market share to 22% over a four-year period.

Uncertainty surrounding the trade dispute has fueled a hike in lumber prices, with the NAHB reporting a 22% spike in the Random Lengths Composite Price Index for lumber since the start of the year.

Officials from the NAHB have called for increasing exports from other countries like Chile and last year held discussions with public and private interests in the South American country over the possibility of boosting the country’s exports of softwood and other lumber products to the US.

It has also suggested boosting domestic lumber production by seeking higher targets for timber sales from publicly-owned lands and opening up additional federal forest lands for logging in an environmentally sustainable manner.