The US government is imposing new anti-dumping duties on softwood lumber imported from Canada, with the move coming less than two months before the start of negotiations among Washington, Ottawa and Mexico City to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The new duties of up to 7.72 per cent were announced in a statement released on Monday by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who said Washington was "committed to free and fair trade", Efe news reported on Tuesday.
As proof of that commitment, Ross said, the measure excludes "softwood lumber from the Canadian Atlantic Provinces in the ongoing anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases".
Coming on top of the duties announced in April, the total duties levied on the Canadian products range from 17.41 per cent to 30.88 per cent, the Commerce Department said.
The US and Canada have been engaged in a long-running dispute over Canadian lumber used in construction, which Washington deems to be subsidized and sold at prices below market values.
On August 16, Canada, the US and Mexico are scheduled to begin renegotiating the 23-year-old NAFTA, which President Donald Trump has described as a "disaster" for his country.
Trump has said that he was determined to pull the US out of the trade pact but changed his mind after speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
In mid-May, Trump notified Congress of his decision to renegotiate NAFTA, opening a 90-day period for consultations before the talks with the two trade partners start.
Trade within NAFTA, a market with 480 million consumers, totalled $1.1 trillion in 2016.
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