Canada has dropped two legal challenges of United States duties on Canadian softwood lumber.
The U.S. has long accused Canada's softwood lumber sector of violating rules on anti-dumping — flooding a market with cheaper, subsidized products to disrupt a domestic industry.
The U.S. Commerce Department announced plans last month to nearly triple duties on Canadian softwood lumber to just over 20 per cent.
The Wall Street Journal first reported this week that Canada dropped long-standing appeals earlier this month of two U.S. anti-dumping reviews dating back to the previous decade.
The U.S. undertakes administrative reviews each year to set the level of duties. Canada has regularly challenged those orders.
Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman Dina Destin said in a media statement that the decision to drop the two appeals was made "in close consultation with Canadian industry, provinces and key partners, and it reflects a strategic choice to maximize long-term interests and prospects for a negotiated resolution with the United States."
She said Canada still believes U.S. anti-dumping duties on softwood lumber are unfair and Ottawa is still pursuing six other legal challenges on the matter.
The move comes as Canadian officials signal they're looking to address U.S. President Donald Trump's sector-specific tariffs rather than pursue a larger trade and security agreement with the United States.
Exemptions tied to the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement have shielded the bulk of Canadian goods from tariffs so far in the trade dispute, though duties remain on steel, aluminum, autos and the softwood lumber sector.
Canada dropped its counter-tariffs on most U.S. goods at the start of its month.
Prime Minister Mark Carney last month promised an aid package for the lumber industry that includes $700 million in loan guarantees and $500 million for long-term supports to help companies diversify export markets and develop their products.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
