Panel: Wood imports still harm U.S. firms

WASHINGTON – American lumber producers are still being hurt by Canadian lumber imports, a U.S. trade agency ruled Tuesday in a decision that maintains punitive duties as high as 27 percent on Canadian softwood lumber.

The U.S. International Trade Commission upheld a May 2002 finding that Canadian imports of lumber from pine, spruce and other trees are injuring the U.S. industry. The panel declined to recalculate the duties as requested by a panel set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“Overproduction remains a problem in Canada and the likely market for this excess production is the United States,” the commission said in a 116-page opinion released Tuesday. The quasi-judicial panel approved the ruling 5-0, with one abstention.

Canada’s new International Trade Minister, Jim Peterson, immediately objected to the U.S. panel’s finding.

“We regret that the ITC has come back with a determination that maintains its threat-of-injury finding,” Peterson said in a statement.

Peterson, who took office Friday along with Prime Minister Paul Martin, said he will review the decision, consulting with Canadian provinces and the lumber industry, before deciding his next move.

The ITC ruling comes as the two sides attempt to resolve the long-standing dispute over softwood lumber, which is commonly used in home construction. The United States imported nearly $6 billion of such lumber from Canada in 2002, about one-third of the American market.

Last year, the United States imposed stiff duties on softwood imports from four Canadian provinces after accusing Canada of subsidizing the industry. Canada called the duties unwarranted and protested to the World Trade Organization and a NAFTA dispute panel.