Canada will provide up to C$1.2 billion ($870 million) to help softwood lumber producers deal with U.S. countervailing and anti-dumping duties, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The federal government will also provide C$500 million to help speed product development and market diversification.
The United States is accusing Canada of dumping lumber on the domestic market, and has introduced both anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of timber used in house construction. Canada denies it is dumping the wood industry.
Last month the U.S. Commerce Department announced was almost tripling anti-dumping duties on most Canadian softwood to 20.56%. According to Canadian officials, total duties will rise to 34.5% from 14.5%.
The Build Canada Homes initiative, newly launched by the Canadian government, will offer financing to private home builders that use Canadian-made materials and technologies such as mass timber and softwood lumber.
