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ACAH Says Southern Yellow Pine Can`t Substitut Canadian Softwood Lumber

¡¾2002.03.25¡¿

ACAH Says Southern Yellow Pine Can`t Substitut Canadian Softwood Lumber
03.25.2002 Uhr - Washington
The U.S. Commerce Department's decision to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties totaling 29.01 percent on Canadian softwood lumber shipments into the U.S. will harm housing affordability, according to the American Consumers for Affordable Homes (ACAH).
"U.S. forestry companies have argued for more than 20 years that imported lumber is somehow subsidized. They have always lost their arguments before international panels, and this latest ruling won't stand up to scrutiny either. The U.S. must have Canadian lumber to meet its housing construction needs. U.S. forests have been over-harvested and there is no way for domestic producers to meet the demand. Import barriers will simply raise lumber prices and forest company profits, without creating new lumber mill jobs," said Susan Petniunas, spokesperson for the ACAH. "Ask any home builder across the United States-we need Canadian spruce pine fir for wall studs. Southern
yellow pine, because it is more likely to warp, is better suited for beams and
joists. Framing walls with southern yellow pine just won't work for the homes
we want to deliver to American consumers."

Attention now swings to the International Trade Commission (ITC), which is expected to rule in late April on whether U.S. forestry companies have suffered any harm from Canadian softwood lumber imports. "We can only hope that the ITC sees through some of the false arguments that use of lumber from Canada comes at the expense of U.S. lumber mills," Petniunas said.

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