Snowe Wants Duties to Offset Canadian Lumber Subsidies

By: Staff

WASHINGTON - Sen. Olympia J. Snowe joined a bi-partisan group of Senate colleagues Wednesday who are asking the Commerce department to calculate duties on Canadian lumber imports to offset the subsidies Canada provides the lumber industry.

In their letter to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, the senators ask him to ensure that the Commerce Department calculates duties on Canadian lumber imports in a way that sufficiently offsets pervasive Canadian subsidies.

Canada greatly subsidizes its lumber industry, according to Snowe. She said that threatens U.S. lumber by keeping Canadian lumber at artificially low prices.

"Our nation's softwood lumber industry and workers continue to suffer greatly from Canadian subsidies," said Snowe. "In the United States, we have an open and competitive timber market. Now is the time for the Canadians to have one as well. The Commerce Department must offset Canadian subsidies by imposing commensurate duties on timber. The future of Maine's softwood lumber industry depends on remedying unfair Canadian subsidies, and I pledge to continue the fight for fair timber prices."

The U.S. Department of Commerce has found that the Canadian government subsidizes its lumber industry through below-market sales and dumping products in the U.S. at unfairly low prices. The International Trade Commission often has said that these unfair Canadian imports threaten the U.S. timber industry with injury. In late August 2004, a NAFTA dispute panel ruled that the ITC must issue a negative injury determination - contrary to what the ITC had determined itself.