Inside the never-ending softwood lumber trade war between Canada and the U.S.
By Brent Jang
The Globe and Mail
March 18, 2023
Canadian lumber companies have gained a foothold in the United States during a trade battle that has defied repeated attempts at a long-lasting resolution. Canadian-owned sawmills south of the border now account for 22 per cent of lumber capacity across the U.S. The softwood lumber fight is complicated by divergent views on public versus private ownership of forests. But the lines have blurred because of inroads by Canadian producers. …Welcome to the complex, arcane and strange world of the softwood industry, where major Canadian producers have taken a detour around U.S. tariff barriers. …The Canadian crusade in the U.S. has emerged as a surprising trend in the trade war. It stands in sharp contrast to 2006, when Canadian-owned sawmills in the U.S. barely registered on the forestry map.
The chief executive officers of Canada’s top lumber producers met with International Trade Minister Mary Ng. The CEOs want the Canadian government to place the softwood file onto the agenda for the March 23-24 summit between Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden. The wild card is whether Ms. Ng’s counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, will view the softwood file as a priority. …The U.S. lumber lobby has sway over Congress, though that political grip has loosened over the past couple of years. …Amid Canadian timber constraints, sawmills located in Canada have seen their share of U.S. lumber consumption steadily eroded, falling to 26 per cent last year, compared with nearly 33 per cent in 2016. …Canada’s softwood producers say they have paid more than $8-billion in lumber duties to the U.S. from 2017 to 2022.