Photo: Contributed

A Tolko Industries spokesperson has refused to comment on a tariff slapped on Canadian softwood lumber exports to the U.S.

Tolko has about 2,800 employees, with 2,100 working in B.C., and is a major employer in the Okanagan.

But the firm and other companies have decided to speak with one voice through the B.C. Lumber Trade Council.

The council has accused the U.S. Department of Commerce of imposing “punitive preliminary countervailing duty rates on Canadian softwood lumber in response to a petition filed by the protectionist lumber lobby in United States.”

The tariffs on some big B.C. firms include: Tolko 19.5 per cent, Canfor 20.26 per cent, West Fraser 24.12 per cent.

“These duties are unwarranted, and this determination is completely without merit,” said Susan Yurkovich, president of the council. “The allegations made by the U.S. lumber lobby are the same arguments they made in prior rounds of litigation, all of which were rejected and overturned by independent NAFTA panels. This new trade action is driven by the same protectionist lumber lobby in the U.S. whose sole purpose is to create artificial supply constraints on lumber and drive prices up for their benefit, at the expense of American consumers.”

The duties are retroactive 90 days, which Yurkovich called “an unprecedented departure” from the department's typical approach.

“American demand for lumber exceeds what the U.S. lumber industry currently produces. And, with housing and construction starts on the rise, demand for lumber is expected to continue to grow in the years ahead.”

Yurkovich said Canadian lumber imports don’t pose a threat to the U.S. lumber industry.

“There is enough North American demand to grow the U.S. industry while also allowing Canada to supply its U.S. customers as we have been doing for decades.”

She said the B.C. lumber industry believes that reaching a new agreement is in the best interests of producers and consumers on both sides of the border.