North Vancouver, B.C. — After today’s announcement, the US Department of Commerce will double the anti-dumping and countervailing duty on Canadian softwood lumber products, adding more to the already collected CDN$10 billion deposits. This unfairly penalizes BC’s value-added wood industry. The Independent Wood Processors Association of British Columbia (IWPA) calls on the Canadian government to prioritize negotiating a new trade agreement. “Enough is enough; this softwood lumber dispute unfairly hurts the small, family-owned companies who are innocent bystanders in this long-standing dispute between American landowners and international lumber corporations,” said Andy Rielly, Chair of IWPA. “This dispute has gone on long enough: We call upon the Canadian government to find a negotiated solution and protect Canada’s small- and medium-sized family-owned businesses who are collateral damage in this dispute.”

Additional coverage by Nelson Bennett in Business in Vancouver: US to double lumber duties