The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement regarding the NAFTA Chapter 19 binational panel decision on U.S. imports of Canadian softwood lumber:
“Canada welcomes the unanimous NAFTA Chapter 19 binational panel decision that there were insufficient grounds for the U.S. International Trade Commission to determine that Canadian softwood lumber products had materially injured the U.S. softwood industry.
“This decision supports what Canada has been saying all along: U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber are unfair and unwarranted. The panel’s decision is an important step in the right direction in having these duties on Canadian exports removed and the sums collected reimbursed.
“Canada’s forestry industry sustains good middle-class jobs in communities across our country. We will continue to strongly defend our softwood lumber industry and its workers.”