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Federal Government reduces drywall tariff; monetary relief for residents

Last Updated Feb 27, 2017 at 10:53 am MDT

PHOTO. Finance Minister Bill Morneau meets with Fort McMurray family who is rebuilding. JENNA HAMILTON/Morning Reporter.

Families forced to rebuild their homes after the wildfires last spring will be compensated for having to pay duties on drywall coming into Canada from the United States.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau was in the community on February 27, 2017 and announced that the Government has reduced anti-dumping duties on drywall prices by more than 32%.

“When it comes to rebuilding a community there is no time to lose. I was pleased to see first-hand the progress being made by the people of Fort McMurray less than a year after the wildfires. I am doubly pleased we are able to offer help directly to the families rebuilding their homes in this city,” Said Bill Morneau, minister of finance. 

The government will also use approximately $12-million in anti-dumping duties collected between September 2016 to January 2017 to provide specific monetary relief for residents, as well as builders and contractors affected by the higher drywall costs.

The announcement responds to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) that ruled last month while U.S. firms had dumped drywall at cut-rate prices in Canada over the past few years, maintaining duties at current levels would not be in the country’s trade interests.