US ignores lumber ruling again

News Release
BCLTC

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) is once again demonstrating its unwillingness to honour the rules of NAFTA. Thedecision today by the DOC to disregard the legal requirement to issue its recalculation of the countervailing duty rate on softwood lumber is simply another delay tactic and a purposeful attempt by the U.S. to ignore the NAFTA panel.
“Faced with consistent losses in front of NAFTA panels, the DOC has decided that rather than comply with the legal orders, they will simply use delay tactics to needlessly continue the case,” said John Allan, president of the BC Lumber Trade Council.
“While the U.S. continues to maintain they want to resolve the softwood lumber dispute, today’s action by the DOC says the opposite,” said Allan.
“The DOC said they had significant questions about the methodology applied by the NAFTA panel but we find it amazing they would wait until the eleventh hour to seek the clarification they say is needed,” said Allan.
Under the rules of the NAFTA, the Department of Commerce has a legal obligation to issue its remand determination on the countervailing duty today.
In the October 5, 2005 decision, the NAFTA panel said, “the Investigating Authority is ordered to complete its remand determination by the firm date of October 28, 2005”.