WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A binational NAFTA panel has again confirmed what the U.S. industry has known for decades: the Canadian softwood lumber industry receives numerous unfair subsidies from the Canadian government, and duties to offset those subsidies are appropriate under U.S. law.

“The Coalition appreciates the significant work over nearly a decade by the Department of Commerce and the NAFTA Panel to render thoughtful, detailed decisions regarding all of the ways that Canada provides unfair financial support to its lumber industry,” stated Zoltan van Heyningen, Executive Director of the U.S. Lumber Coalition. 

Canada has built and promoted an excess capacity problem for its softwood lumber industry. For decades, the Canadian lumber industry has been supported by a variety of subsidies which enabled it to capture an artificially high share of the U.S. market. In 2025, the Canadian softwood lumber industry had the capacity to produce 3.6 times as much lumber as the Canadian market could consume. Following two prior decisions that upheld various aspects of the Department of Commerce’s findings, the NAFTA panel’s latest and final ruling in this appeal represents a crucial milestone in countering the longstanding distortions created by Canada’s policies and excess capacity through the enforcement of U.S. trade laws.

“As the Canadian government continues to double down on unfair subsidies to the Canadian industry, the Coalition will double down on its efforts to hold that industry accountable so that U.S. lumber producers, their workers, and their communities can continue to invest in making more American lumber to build more American homes,” added van Heyningen.

“Despite talks of diversification to other markets, Canada has recently openly acknowledged it is unable to reduce its dependency on the U.S. market. The reality is that as long as Canada maintains its massive excess and unneeded softwood lumber production capacity, Canadian lumber producers will unload their excess production into the U.S. market by dumping their product at whatever price is needed to move their product, and then will turn around expecting Canadian taxpayer-funded subsidy schemes to maintain their production facilities. All at the expense of U.S. workers, companies, and forestry dependent communities. Time has come for Canada to stop this cycle of abuse of our market and instead focus on right-sizing its lumber industry to market realities,” concluded van Heyningen.

About the U.S. Lumber Coalition

Video: Building American Dreams

The U.S. Lumber Coalition is an alliance of large and small softwood lumber producers from around the country, joined by their employees and woodland owners, working to address Canada’s unfair lumber trade practices. Our goal is to serve as the voice of the American lumber community and effectively address Canada’s unfair softwood lumber trade practices. The Coalition supports the full enforcement of the U.S. trade laws to allow the U.S. industry to invest and grow to its natural size without being impaired by unfairly traded imports. Continued full enforcement of the U.S. trade laws will strengthen domestic supply lines by maximizing long-term domestic production and lumber availability produced by U.S. workers to build U.S. homes. For more information, please visit the Coalition’s website at www.uslumbercoalition.org.

CONTACT: Zoltan van Heyningen

zoltan@uslumbercoalition.org | 202-805-9133

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-us-lumber-coalition-nafta-panel-reconfirms-canadian-softwood-lumber-industry-subsidized-duties-appropriate-under-us-law-302901432.html

SOURCE The U.S. Lumber Coalition