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FACT SHEET

Notice of Preliminary Affirmative Determination in the Antidumping Investigation of Softwood Lumber from Canada

On Wednesday, October 31, 2001, the Department of Commerce (the Department) announced its preliminary determination in the antidumping investigation of certain softwood lumber products from Canada. �We preliminarily found that producers/exporters of softwood lumber from Canada have sold their product below fair value.� Preliminary antidumping margins ranged from 5.94 to 19.24 percent.

Background:

The petitions were filed April 2, 2001, on behalf of the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports Executive Committee.� After a careful review of the allegations contained in the petitions, the Department initiated these investigations on April 23, 2001.� On May 23, 2001, the International Trade Commission (ITC) issued preliminary affirmative injury determination regarding this investigation.�

The Department also announced the postponement of the final determination in the antidumping and the countervailing investigations, which have been aligned and are now scheduled for late March 2002.

Product Description:

The products covered by this investigation are softwood lumber, flooring and siding (softwood lumber products). Softwood lumber products include all products classified under headings 4407.1000, 4409.1010, 4409.1090, and 4409.1020, respectively, of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), and any softwood lumber, flooring and siding described below. These softwood lumber products include:

Coniferous wood, sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, of a thickness exceeding six millimeters;
Coniferous wood siding (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rabbeted, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) along any of its edges or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed;
Other coniferous wood (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rabbeted, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) along any of its edges or faces (other than wood moldings and wood dowel rods)� whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed; and
Coniferous wood flooring (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rabbeted, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) along any of its edges or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed.

Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.

Critical Circumstances:

As part the antidumping determination, we have also preliminarily found that critical circumstances do not exist on imports of lumber from Canada.� This determination does not affect the Department's affirmative finding of critical circumstances in the countervailing duty investigation.� The critical circumstances two investigations are separate proceedings with separate statutory requirements.� The Department will its final critical circumstances determinations in both the AD and CVD investigations at the time of our final determinations.�

Antidumping Margins:

Company	Margin
Canfor	12.98%
Weyerhaeuser	11.93%
Abitibi	13.64%
Slocan	19.24%
West Fraser	5.94%
Tembec	10.76%
All Other Producers/Exporters	12.58%

Case Calendar:

Event	Date
DOC Final Determinations: AD & CVD	March 25, 2002
ITC Final Determinations: AD & CVD	May 9, 2002
Order	May 16, 2002

*Note: These dates are estimated as they are linked to the date of publication of the preliminary determination.

Import Statistics for Canada:

Year	Volume	Value
1999	18,244	$7,213,585,000
2000	18,333	$6,379,336,000

Source: Figures are from the IM-145 data, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census.�

Value is denominated in U.S. dollars and quantity is denominated in million board feet.

Copies of the Antidumping Preliminary Determination:

The determination of this investigation can be accessed directly on the Web at www.ita.doc.gov/import__admin/records/frn.� The Determination and all corresponding Memorandums are available in our Central Records Unit, Room B-099, in the Main Commerce Building, 14^th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.