Washington Cuts Canadian Lumber Duties as Trump’s Tariff Stays
Most Canadian sawmills now face a combined US duty of 24.75 per cent, down from 35.16 per cent after the previous annual review.
Packaged lumber on a quay beside a cargo ship at berth. Most Canadian producers will pay a combined US duty of 24.75 per cent on lumber shipped from Monday, down from 35.16 per cent after the previous annual review.
More than 200 Canadian lumber producers and exporters will pay less to ship into the United States from Monday, with their dumping duty falling to 10.64 per cent from 20.53 per cent. In its seventh annual review, the US Department of Commerce on Wednesday also trimmed their subsidy duty to 14.11 per cent from 14.63 per cent, cutting the combined rate to 24.75 per cent from 35.16 per cent.
“Lumber crosses our shared border because builders on both sides need it,” said Kim Haakstad, interim president of the BC Lumber Trade Council, on Wednesday. The council says Canadian softwood still faces import taxes of 34.75 per cent at the border once US President Donald Trump’s 10 per cent Section 232 tariff is added.
Commerce found that Canadian producers dumped lumber into the United States during 2024, setting the final duties owed on those shipments. It pushed its subsidy decision back twice, by 53 days in August and a further seven last month, before signing both sets of results on Tuesday.
Canfor faces the highest dumping duty of the three producers Commerce examined individually, at 17 per cent, down from 35.47 per cent after last year’s review. West Fraser’s is the lowest at 4.71 per cent, whilst Resolute’s is set at 13.13 per cent.
Interfor and Weyerhaeuser are among the producers and exporters Commerce did not examine individually, and take the combined rate of 24.75 per cent. Commerce also dropped 105 companies from the dumping review, 93 of them after requests to review them were withdrawn.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and US President Donald Trump during an earlier bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. Trump’s 10 per cent Section 232 tariff on softwood timber and lumber stays in place on top of the lower duties. (Photo Credit: Shawn Thew/UPI, UPI/Alamy Live News)
“The Commerce Department has reaffirmed that Canada continues to trade unfairly in softwood lumber,” said Zoltan van Heyningen, executive director of the US Lumber Coalition. Steve Swanson, the coalition’s chair, said Canada’s share of the US lumber market had fallen to levels last seen in the 1970s.
By contrast, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) wants the Trump administration to pause tariffs on all building materials, including Canadian lumber, and quickly negotiate a new softwood lumber agreement. NAHB says lumber tariffs make homes less affordable, “effectively taxing American builders, home buyers and consumers”.
Trump imposed the Section 232 tariff on softwood timber and lumber from all countries a year ago, but left hardwood timber and lumber out of it. He also gave Commerce until the start of this month to update him on hardwood imports, so he could decide whether the phased duty it recommended last year is warranted.
A NAFTA panel on 5 October upheld Commerce’s reworked subsidy finding from the original 2017 case, which Global Affairs Canada says effectively ends Canada’s challenge. Meanwhile, a New Hampshire importer is challenging in court a US Customs and Border Protection finding that it evaded the duties by routing Canadian lumber through New Zealand.
As it stands, Commerce plans to have Customs assess the final duties on 2024 shipments no earlier than 41 days after Monday’s publication. Commerce opened its eighth review in March and has again chosen Resolute and West Fraser for individual examination, according to Global Affairs Canada.
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