Office of Public Affairs

Office of Public Affairs

Press Releases

Speeches

Trade Statistics

Official Bios

Publications

Import Decisions

FACT SHEET

Final Determinations

in the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations:

Certain Softwood Lumber from Canada

On Friday, March 22, 2002, the Department of Commerce (the Department) announced the final determinations for the above-referenced investigations. We found that producers/exporters of certain softwood lumber products (softwood lumber) from Canada have benefitted from countervailable subsidies. We also found that Canadian producers/exporters of softwood lumber have sold their product below fair market value.

Petitioners: The petitions were filed April 2, 2001, on behalf of 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.

The Maritime Provinces: Excluded from the countervailing duty 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.

Company Exclusions: We determined that certain Canadian companies were not subsidized above de minimis levels. As a result, the following companies will be excluded from countervailing duty investigation: Armarnd Duhamel et fils Inc., Bardeaux et Cedres, B. Luken Logging, Beaubois Coaticook, Busque & Laflamme Inc., Carrier & Begin Inc., Clermond Hamel, Frontier Lumber, J.D. Irving, Ltd., Les Produits Forestiers D.G., Marcel Lauzon Inc., Mobilier Rustique, Paul Vallee Inc., Rene Bernard Inc., Roland Boulanger & Cite., Sault Forest Product Ltd., Scierie Alexandre Lemay, Scierie La Patrie Inc., Scierie Tech, Inc., and Wilfrid Paquet et fils.

Lumber Exclusions: The Department has determined not to exclude western red cedar and certain other species of lumber from these investigations, nor has the Department considered western red cedar and certain other species to be separate classes or kinds of products from all other investigated products.

Case Calendar:

Event	AD Date	CVD Date
Petition Filed	April 2, 2001	April 2, 2001
Initiation Date	April 23, 2001	April 23, 2001
ITC Preliminary Determination	May 18, 2001	May 18, 2001
DOC Preliminary Determination	October 30, 2001	August 9, 2001
DOC Final Determination	March 21, 2002	March 21, 2002
ITC Final Determination*	May 6, 2002	May 6, 2002
Signature of Order**	May 13, 2002	May 13, 2002

* On or about this date.

** This will take place only in the event of a final affirmative injury determination by the International Trade Commission.

Margins:

Net Subsidy Rate

CANADA	FINAL Rate	PRELIM Rate
All producers/exporters	19.34%	19.31%

Dumping Margins

COMPANY	FINAL Margin	PRELIM Margin
Weyerhaeuser	15.83%	11.93%
Abitibi	14.60%	13.64%
Tembec	12.04%	10.76%
Slocan	7.55%	19.24%
Canfor	5.96%	12.98%
West Fraser	2.26%	5.94%
All Others	9.67%	12.58%

Volume and Value of Imports for Consumption:

QUANTITY (Cubic Meters for HTS 4407)

Country	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002 YTD*
Canada	42,207,647	42,641,908	42,833,628	43,753,155	3,286,191

* 2002 YTD = January 2002

VALUE (Actual U.S.$ for HTS 4407)

Country	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002 YTD*
Canada	$5,922,863,321	$6,799,939,178	$5,974,838,261	$5,667,682,451	$397,191,685

* 2002 YTD = January 2002

(Source: ITC Dataweb)