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U.S. Imposes 35.19% Duty on Canadian Softwood Lumber

Fueled by U.S. measures, Canada’s C$1.2 billion support package diversifies markets, retrains workers, seeks USMCA dispute talks

Prime Minister Mark Carney greets employees at the Gorman Brothers Lumber sawmill in West Kelowna, B.C. on Tuesday.
Piles of lumber are seen for sale
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to mill workers in West Kelowna, B.C., after announcing support for Canada's lumber industry on Aug. 5, 2025.
The BCLTC states that U.S. duty increases on Canadian softwood lumber will only serve to economically harm both countries.

Overview

  • The Commerce Department raised countervailing duties on most Canadian lumber to 14.63% on top of 20.56% anti-dumping levies and directed Customs and Border Protection to collect the combined 35.19% rate.
  • B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar called the move “absurd and reckless” and warned it will deepen housing affordability pressures in both countries.
  • Kurt Niquidet of the BC Lumber Trade Council said higher fees will strain forestry-dependent communities in Canada and add as much as US$6,000 to the cost of a U.S. single-family home.
  • On August 5, Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a C$1.2 billion package providing financing, market-diversification support and worker-retraining programs for Canada’s lumber sector.
  • Industry groups are pressing for a negotiated USMCA solution, with legal challenges and talks on quota-based agreements underway to settle the decades-long subsidy dispute.