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Canada to Appeal WTO Panel's Conclusions on Softwood Lumber |
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Written by Government of Canada
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Tuesday, 15 November 2005 |
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International Trade Minister Jim Peterson today confirmed that Canada would appeal a WTO panel finding that the U.S. is in compliance with its WTO obligations in the softwood lumber injury case. Minister Peterson also emphasized that the U.S. is still legally obliged to honour its NAFTA commitments.
“The WTO panel’s findings do not change the fact that the NAFTA process—which is enforceable under U.S. domestic law—has already concluded that the U.S. was wrong to impose duties on Canadian softwood lumber in the first place,” explained the Minister. “The WTO panel’s conclusions address different legal obligations and cannot be used as an excuse by the United States to avoid complying with NAFTA.”
On August 10, 2005, a NAFTA Extraordinary Challenge Committee (ECC) decision effectively confirmed that the U.S. had failed to prove that its domestic lumber industry is being threatened with injury as a result of Canadian softwood lumber imports. As a result of that decision, the U.S. is legally obligated to revoke the anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders, to refund deposits, and to terminate all ongoing administrative reviews. Canada is challenging the U.S. failure to comply with the ECC decision before the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT), which can compel the United States to revoke the duty orders and refund all deposits.
“Our central litigation focus remains our case at the U.S. Court of International Trade,” said Minister Peterson. “The CIT will examine U.S. compliance with its own domestic law and we are confident that it will rule in Canada’s favour and compel the U.S. to revoke the duty orders and return the deposits collected to date.” |
