Premier John Horgan has issued the following statement in response to the World Trade Organization (WTO) panel report on U.S. countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber:

“We are pleased that the WTO panel ruling supports Canada’s challenge of U.S. countervailing duties on softwood lumber.

“We have continuously worked alongside the federal government on this long, difficult softwood lumber dispute. The forest sector is vital to our province’s economy and to the hard-working people whose livelihoods depend on it.

“We have always maintained that B.C.’s forest policies are trade compliant. This ruling by the WTO, yet again, confirms that.

“While this decision is a victory for B.C.’s lumber producers, immediate relief is unlikely. Our work continues until we bring an end to the unfair U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber exports.”