A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel affirmed the United States’ anti-dumping measures that apply the Differential Pricing Methodology to Canada’s softwood lumber products.
The panel stated that the USDOC’s use of “zeroing” to calculate anti-dumping tariffs was permissible in the case of Canadian softwood lumber.
From the WTO Panel Report comes the following: [Report of the Panel WT/DS534/R | 9 April 2019]
[W]e find that Canada has failed to establish that the USDOC acted inconsistently with the second sentence of Article 2.4.2 by using zeroing under the W-T methodology in the underlying investigation.
We consider our findings under the second sentence of Article 2.4.2 and under Article 2.4 to be sufficient to resolve this dispute. Therefore, we do not find it necessary to address Canada’s claims under Articles 1 and 2.1 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement as well as Articles VI:1 and VI:2 of the GATT 1994.
Both Canada and the US have sixty (60) days to decide whether to appeal this WTO ruling.
Canada also has a Chapter 19 NAFTA Dispute Settlement case still awaiting resolution.
If you have any questions, please contact either your Livingston account manager or our Regulatory Affairs group at usregaffairs@livingstonintl.com