Ottawa weighs NAFTA and WTO options as U.S. finds Canada dumped lumber, slaps duties

BUSINESS

Ottawa weighs NAFTA and WTO options as U.S. finds Canada dumped lumber, slaps duties

Softwood lumber is stacked in April at Murray Brothers Lumber Company woodlot in Madawaska, Ontario. The U.S. Department of Commerce issued its final finding Thursday on the softwood lumber duties Canadian producers must pay, escalating a trade dispute amid the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. | SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS / VIA AP, FILE

Reuters

Nov 3, 2017

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday set final duties on Canadian softwood lumber after finding that imports were being unfairly subsidized and dumped in the United States, escalating a trade dispute with Canada in the midst of NAFTA trade talks.

The decision imposes anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties affecting about $5.66 billion worth of imports of the key building material.

Canada called the measures “unfair, unwarranted and deeply troubling” and said it was considering its options, including legal action through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).