British Columbia's wood manufacturing sector is again sounding the alarm about Canada's softwood lumber dispute with the United States, calling it a "broken process."
The response by the Independent Wood Processors Association comes after the U.S. Department of Commerce posted its preliminary tariff determination for the sector, estimated at just short of 25 per cent, lower than the current duty rate of more than 35 per cent.
The association says while it appears tariffs may be lowered, it cautions that there is still uncertainty on whether the finalized rate — expected in August — will actually represent a reduction of the current duty rate.
Executive director Brian Menzies also says that wood manufacturers are being unfairly punished, since companies do not hold timber tenures, harvest Crown timber or receive subsidies — and should not be included in the dispute.
The association also says an existing dispute-resolution process included in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, also known as CUSMA, has not yielded "meaningful progress."
It says the Canadian and U.S. governments need to "prioritize direct negotiations" instead of repeating the "cycle of endless litigation," noting that consumers as well as workers and businesses on both sides of the border are being penalized with uncertainty and higher prices.
“After nearly a decade, it is obvious the current dispute mechanisms are not working,” Menzies said in a statement. “If legal channels cannot solve this, then political leaders need to step in and negotiate a real solution.”
"If the U.S. industry has real concerns, then let’s hear them … Enough hiding behind paperwork, bureaucracy, and endless administrative rulings."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
