Thunder Bay chamber, NOMA 'condemn' U.S. decision to increase softwood lumber duties

Two northwestern Ontario organizations are calling on the federal and provincial governments to prioritize finding a solution to the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Friday it was increasing anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 20.56 per cent.

In a media release this week, the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce and Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) said they condemn the decision.

"This is certainly significantly concerning, because it is such a massive increase," said Charla Robinson, chamber president. "It's more than 2½ times the duties that were being paid previously.

"That's a huge added cost for every board that goes across the border," she said. "And then there's also the potential that there could be some retroactive payments required as well."

In the release, NOMA and the chamber said the Canadian lumber sector has been facing "unjust and punitive duties" since the last softwood lumber agreement between the two countries expired in 2016.

To date, those duties have totalled more than $10 billion, which has affected investment and innovation in the sector, the release says.

"Forestry is the economic lifeblood of communities across northwestern Ontario," Rick Dumas, president of NOMA, said in a statement. "This unjustified and protectionist action will have a direct and harmful impact on workers, families, Indigenous communities, and local economies throughout our region."

The chamber and NOMA are calling on the provincial and federal governments to:

• Make the softwood lumber dispute an urgent national priority and engage with U.S. officials for a fair and timely resolution.
• Accelerate legal challenges under CUSMA/NAFTA and the WTO to overturn these punitive duties.
• Work in close partnership with forest-sector stakeholders to develop mitigation measures and economic supports that protect communities from further harm.

Robinson said there has been some "encouraging messaging" from Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford on the matter.

"This is something that is part of the ongoing negotiations with the U.S.," she said. "Just a couple of weeks ago, Prime Minister Carney specifically identified softwood lumber as a priority for the Government of Canada, so that's encouraging, and we do know that the legal challenges are underway to try to overturn this.

"But we just want to make sure that we continue to keep the message loud and clear that this is hurting our forest sector, and the communities that are so dependent on the sector. And we want to make sure that all governments know that we need them to keep the pressure on to get this solved."

Duties hurt American, Canadian workers: province

In a statement last week, provincial representatives also called on the U.S. to lift the duties.

Friday's "decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce to increase duties on softwood lumber will hurt American and Canadian workers, families and communities alike," Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP and Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products Kevin Holland, Minister of Natural Resources Mike Harris, and Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli said in the joint statement.

"These duties disrupt industries, drive up costs and put our shared competitiveness at risk," the statement reads. "Ontario and the U.S. trade together and build together. The U.S. market needs Canadian lumber and our softwood lumber producers are proud to bring high-quality, sustainably harvested construction materials to market, building communities and driving economic growth on both sides of the border.

"Continued duties on Canadian softwood lumber exports are an unjust burden which limit productivity, raise construction costs and make homes less affordable for American families. We remain firm in our position that these duties should be lifted entirely, for the benefit of workers and families on both sides of the border."