U.S. Lumber Coalition Applauds The Administration's Objectives To Preserve United States' Ability To Enforce U.S. Trade Laws and Eliminate NAFTA's Chapter 19 Dispute Settlement Mechanism

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Lumber Coalition today commented on the Trump Administration's objectives for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), including the recommendation to preserve the ability of the United States to rigorously enforce its trade laws by eliminating NAFTA's Chapter 19 dispute settlement mechanism.

"We applaud U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for pushing the removal of the Chapter 19 dispute panel system from NAFTA. The Chapter 19 system is unconstitutional, unworkable in practice, and for decades has seriously undermined the enforcement of U.S. law against unfair trade practices by Canada and Mexico, to the detriment of U.S. industries and workers," said U.S. Lumber Coalition spokesperson, Zoltan van Heyningen.

"Eliminating Chapter 19 will result in a clearer understanding of and confidence in the likely outcome of trade remedy proceedings, and it becomes easier for all stakeholders to reach a negotiated outcome without first exhausting one another, and their governments, in unnecessarily contentious and lengthy legal disputes. We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to ensure that our trade laws are enforced and trade agreements result in a level playing field to allow American workers and businesses to grow and fully realize their potential without the injurious effects of unfairly traded imports," added van Heyningen.

Additional information and background:
In April, the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled that Canada subsidizes softwood lumber production, distorting the U.S. softwood lumber market to the detriment of U.S. sawmills, their employees and communities. The U.S. Lumber Coalition's statement can be found here.

Additionally, in June, the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled that exporters from Canada have sold softwood lumber to the United States at less than fair value based on factual evidence provided by the interested parties.  The U.S. Lumber Coalition's statement on the antidumping duties can be found here.

About the U.S. Lumber Coalition
The U.S. Lumber Coalition is an alliance of large and small lumber producers from around the country, joined by hundreds of thousands of their employees, and tens of thousands of woodland owners. The Coalition is united in opposition to Canada's unfair lumber?trade practices, including the gross under? pricing of timber on government?owned lands. For more information, please visit the Coalition's website at www.uslumbercoalition.org.

CONTACT: Zoltan van Heyningen
[email protected] | 703-597-8651

SOURCE U.S. Lumber Coalition