Petition Posted on New AD/CV Duties on Canada Softwood Lumber
A petition filed Nov. 25 by a domestic industry coalition seeking new antidumping and countervailing duties on softwood lumber products from Canada is now available on the Commerce Department's ACCESS database. The petition, filed by the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations, follows the expiration in October of a one-year moratorium on new AD/CV duty requests after the Softwood Lumber Agreement of 2006 expired in October 2015.
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The 2006 agreement, the third since the 1980s, mandated a series of tariffs and quotas on Canadian lumber in return for the U.S. not imposing AD/CV duties on softwood lumber. Negotiations continue on a new agreement (see 1610270026).
Proposed Scope
The petition proposes the following scope for the investigations:
“The scope of these petitions is certain softwood lumber products, defined as follows:
“(1) coniferous wood, sawn, or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, whether or not sanded, or whether or not finger-jointed, of an actual thickness exceeding six millimeters;
“(2) coniferous wood siding, flooring, and other coniferous wood (other than moldings and dowel rods), including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, that is continuously shaped (including, but not limited to, tongued, grooved, rebated, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded) along any of its edges, ends, or faces, whether or not planed, whether or not sanded, or whether or not end-jointed;
“(3) coniferous drilled and notched lumber and angle cut lumber;
“(4) coniferous lumber stacked on edge and fastened together with nails, whether or not with plywood sheathing; and
“(5) Components or parts of semi-finished or unassembled finished products made from subject merchandise that would otherwise meet the definition of the scope above are within the scope of these investigations.
“Softwood lumber product imports are generally entered under Chapter 44 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (‘HTSUS’). This chapter of the HTSUS covers ‘Wood and articles of wood.’ Softwood lumber products that are subject to these petitions are currently classifiable under the following ten-digit HTSUS subheadings in Chapter 44: 4407.10.01.01; 4407.10.01.02; 4407.10.01.15; 4407.10.01.16; 4407.10.01.17; 4407.10.01.18; 4407.10.01.19; 4407.10.01.20; 4407.10.01.42; 4407.10.01.43; 4407.10.01.44; 4407.10.01.45; 4407.10.01.46; 4407.10.01.47; 4407.10.01.48; 4407.10.01.49; 4407.10.01.52; 4407.10.01.53; 4407.10.01.54; 4407.10.01.55; 4407.10.01.56; 4407.10.01.57; 4407.10.01.58; 4407.10.01.59; 4407.10.01.64; 4407.10.01.65; 4407.10.01.66; 4407.10.01.67; 4407.10.01.68; 4407.10.01.69; 4407.10.01.74; 4407.10.01.75; 4407.10.01.76; 4407.10.01.77; 4407.10.01.82; 4407.10.01.83; 4407.10.01.92; 4407.10.01.93; 4409.10.05.00; 4409.10.10.20; 4409.10.10.40; 4409.10.10.60; 4409.10.10.80; 4409.10.20.00; 4409.10.90.20; 4409.10.90.40; and 4418.90.25.00.
“Subject merchandise may also be classified as stringers, square cut box-spring-frame components, fence pickets, truss components, pallet components, and door and window frame parts under the following ten-digit HTSUS subheadings in Chapter 44: 4415.20.40.00; 4415.20.80.00; 4418.90.46.05; 4418.90.46.20; 4418.90.46.40; 4418.90.46.95; 4421.90.70.40; 4421.90.94.00; and 4421.90.97.80.
“Petitioner has provided the relevant subheadings of the HTSUS as Exhibit 57, although the description of the subject merchandise in these petitions, not the descriptions of the HTSUS subheadings nor classifications within those subheadings, defines the scope of the investigations.”
Commerce Accepting Comments on Petition Support
The Commerce Department is accepting comments on domestic industry support for the petitions to determine whether the petitions meet the dual requirements of support by domestic producers or workers accounting for (1) at least 25% of the total production of the domestic-like product and (2) more than 50% of the production of the domestic-like product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the petition. If the petitions meet these requirements, among others, Commerce will initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. Comments are due on or about Dec. 15
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the petition.