The Canadian Lumber Trade Alliance (CLTA) has won the most important victory in the ongoing softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the U.S. A unanimous panel of three esteemed U.S. and Canadian judges, including the former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade, dismissed on Wednesday the U.S. Extraordinary Challenge in its entirety.
Canada wins case ending victory in softwood lumber dispute
The Canadian Lumber Trade Alliance (CLTA) has won the most important victory in the ongoing softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the U.S. A unanimous panel of three esteemed U.S. and Canadian judges, including the former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade, dismissed on Wednesday the U.S. Extraordinary Challenge in its entirety. The Extraordinary Challenge Committee (ECC) upheld the NAFTA Panel decisions overturning the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) rulings that Canadian softwood lumber imports threatened to injure the U.S. industry.
In the prior softwood lumber case, and in similar circumstances in other NAFTA cases, decisions by the ECC have been case-ending. Following the ECC decision in each prior case, the U.S. has revoked the orders, stopped collecting cash deposits and returned all prior paid deposits with interest.
The United States had asked the ECC to vacate the NAFTA Panel’s decisions on five separate grounds. The ECC rejected all five challenges, including the challenge to the impartiality of one of the panelists.
As a result, the antidumping and countervailing duty orders are no longer supported by an affirmative ITC determination, which is an essential prerequisite under U.S. law for the imposition of duties. The U.S. Commerce Department is now obligated to revoke the antidumping and countervailing orders, cease collecting cash deposits on imports of softwood lumber from Canada, and refund the more than US$4 billion in cash deposits that have already been collected under the illegal orders.
With decision, the litigation should now come to a long overdue end. The United States should promptly comply with its NAFTA obligations and U.S. law by revoking the orders and returning, with interest, all of the money Canadian softwood lumber exporters have paid since May 2002. The Canadian industry remains committed to finding a long-term durable solution to this dispute.
The Canadian Lumber Trade Alliance includes: The BC Lumber Trade Council, Alberta Softwood Lumber Trade Council, the Ontario Forest Industries Association, the Ontario Lumber Manufacturers Association, Free Trade Lumber Council, and the Quebec Forest Industry Council.
