The Canadian government on Wednesday said it has launched a legal challenge to hefty duties imposed by the United States on its softwood lumber industry. …“The Government of Canada will continue to vigorously defend our industry and its workers against protectionist trade practices,” Freeland said in a statement. “U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber are unfair, unwarranted and troubling,” she said. …Joe Patton, co-chairman of the U.S. Lumber Coalition, called the duties ” a fair enforcement of U.S. trade law,” in a statement to The Hill.   “For decades, the Canadian government has abused the law and provided massive subsidies to its lumber industry, harming U.S. producers and workers,” Patton said. …U.S. home builders disagree with the lumber industry over the softwood issue and have called the duties “a protectionist measure designed to safeguard the interests of major domestic lumber producers at the expense of American consumers.”