FACT
SHEET
Preliminary Affirmative Determination:
Countervailing Duty Investigation on
Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada
On Friday, August 10, 2001, the Department of Commerce will
announce its preliminary affirmative determination in the countervailing
duty investigation on certain softwood lumber products from
Canada.
BACKGROUND
The Department received a petition to initiate a countervailing
duty investigation on imports of softwood lumber from Canada
on April 2, 2001. After reviewing the allegations contained
in the petition, the Department initiated its investigation
on April 23, 2001.
On July 27, 2001, the Department of Commerce announced that
it was exempting the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland (the Maritime
provinces) from the countervailing duty investigation.
Included in its preliminary determination, the
Department also announced its preliminary affirmative finding
of critical circumstances.
PETITIONERS
The petition was filed by the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports
Executive Committee. In addition, on April 20, 2001, the petition
was amended to include the following four companies individually
as petitioners: Moose River Lumber Co., Shearer Lumber Products,
Shuqualak Lumber Co. and Tolleson Lumber Co., Inc.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
The products covered by these investigations are softwood lumber,
flooring and siding (softwood lumber products). Softwood lumber
products include all products classified under headings 4407.1000,
4409.1010, 4409.1090, and 4409.1020, respectively, of the HTSUS,
and any softwood lumber, flooring and siding described below.
These softwood lumber products include:
(1) coniferous wood, sawn or chipped lengthwise,
sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed,
of a thickness exceeding six millimeters;
(2) coniferous wood siding (including strips and
friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped
(tongued, grooved, rabbeted, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded,
rounded or the like) along any of its edges or faces, whether
or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed;
(3) other coniferous wood (including strips and
friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped
(tongued, grooved, rabbeted, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded,
rounded or the like) along any of its edges or faces (other
than wood mouldings and wood dowel rods) whether or not planed,
sanded or finger-jointed; and
(4) coniferous wood flooring (including strips
and friezes for parquet flooring,
not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rabbeted,
chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) along
any of its edges or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or
finger-jointed.
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for
convenience and U.S. Customs purposes, the written description
of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.
Excluded from this investigation are imports of
softwood lumber from the Canadian Provinces of New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland (the Maritime
Provinces). This exemption does not apply to softwood lumber
products produced in the Maritime Provinces from Crown timber
harvested in any other Province.
NET SUBSIDY RATE
The preliminary net countervailable subsidy rate
is 19.31 percent ad valorem on all imports of subject merchandise.
VOLUME AND VALUE OF IMPORTS
| YEAR |
VOLUME (MMBF) |
VALUE (U.S.) |
| 1999 |
18,244 |
$7,213,585,000 |
| 2000 |
18,333 |
$6,379,336,000 |
Source: Data are from the IM-145
data, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census.
WEBSITE ADDRESS:
By Monday, August 13, the Department will post
its preliminary determination on the Import Administration website
at the following address: www.ia.ita.doc.gov
