The U.S. Commerce Department has rejected a request by Canadian makers of cedar shakes and shingles to exclude them from the tariffs on softwood lumber that Washington imposed in January.
The decision made public Sept. 10 by the International Trade Administration (ITA) concludes that cedar shakes and shingles are covered by the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders issued against Canadian softwood lumber on Jan. 3. Those tariffs on U.S. imports of the Canadian lumber average 20.2%.
While most commodity lumber from Canada has been subject to duties on and off for decades, the Jan. 3 orders were the first time cedar shakes and shingles had seen a U.S. tariff since 1991, Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper reported today. Shakes and shingles from the Maritime provinces remain excluded, but the same product from elsewhere–particularly British Columbia–are subject to the penalties.
