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Donald Trump has ordered a probe into dumping within the US lumber market, setting the stage for the business to affix the widening basket of commodities focused by Washington’s world commerce conflict.
The president on Saturday directed the Division of Commerce to research whether or not imports of lumber and wooden merchandise have been undermining home loggers in a approach that posed a threat to US nationwide safety, days after ordering the same overview of the copper business.
If the investigation finds proof of dumping, the president can impose retaliatory measures together with quotas and tariffs. Canada, by far the most important supply of US lumber imports, can be hardest hit.
“The USA faces vital vulnerabilities within the wooden provide chain from imported timber, lumber, and their by-product merchandise being dumped onto the US market,” Trump mentioned within the order.
Whereas Canadian lumber imports are already topic to tariffs of 14.5 per cent, the announcement marks the primary formal step in direction of dragging the business into Trump’s world commerce conflict. Any new tariffs can be along with the pre-existing Canadian levies.
It comes on the eve of sweeping 25 per cent tariffs set to be launched on Canada and Mexico subsequent week, plus an additional 10 per cent obligation on Chinese language imports as Trump ratchets up the strain on US buying and selling companions.
The president has additionally sought to focus on particular industries the place he argues imports are undermining home business. He’s set to impose 25 per cent tariffs on metal and aluminium imports from March 12, following the same probe into that sector throughout his first time period.
On Tuesday he announced an investigation into imports of copper, sparking fears that the metallic can be the subsequent sector slapped with tariffs.
The US has had a long-running feud with Canada over lumber imports. It imported about 34mn cubic ft of softwood lumber in 2023. The overwhelming majority of that — over 28mn cu ft — got here from Canada. The following largest, Germany and Sweden, shipped lower than 3.5mn cu ft mixed.
Forestry is huge enterprise for Canada. In 2022, the sector contributed C$33.4bn to actual GDP, or about 1.2 per cent. In the identical 12 months Canada’s forest product exports have been valued at C$45.6bn, with the bulk destined for the US, in keeping with authorities information.
British Columbia province, the place there’s a excessive focus of Canada’s forestry business, in addition to firms, have spent a long time within the courts preventing US levies and anti-dumping duties.
In 2016 the US lumber business launched the newest spherical of litigation, urging the commerce division to behave as “Canadian lumber is unfairly subsidised and dumped into the US market,” in keeping with a statement from the BC authorities.
The dispute hinges on the Canadian forestry business’s apply of sourcing wooden from Crown land, or parks run by the provinces, so manufacturing and administration prices are decrease than for US forestry firms who depend on non-public land.
Since changing into president, Trump has repeatedly raised the difficulty and threatened tariffs on wooden imports.
Derek Nighbor, president of the Forest Merchandise Affiliation of Canada, mentioned any enhance in tariffs on lumber would harm forest sector workers on either side of the border, and on American households in search of reasonably priced housing.
“We must be targeted on strengthening our aggressive benefits, constructing extra reasonably priced housing, working collectively to deal with worsening wildfire dangers, and bringing extra North American wooden to the world,” he mentioned in an announcement final month.
However Andrew Miller, proprietor of Stimson Lumber and the chair of the US Lumber Coalition, mentioned: “Canada’s unfair commerce comes on the direct expense of US firms and staff.”
