Donald Trump’s threat of a 25 per cent across the board tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports would have a devastating impact on private timberland and sawmill owners in Canada, say the Canadian Forest Owners, which is appealing to federal and provincial governments for some shielding.
“They would be extremely harmful to many of our members,” said Andrew de Vries, CEO of the Canadian Forest Owners. “We’re already on the ropes, so to speak, as the mills struggle with regulatory compliance in different areas and access to harvest.”
Most timberlands in Canada, and especially B.C., are publicly owned Crown forests. But private timberland owners are important marginal suppliers.
There 450,000 private forest landowners across Canada, including 22,500 small woodlots owners in B.C., de Vries said. Many own and operate small sawmills, and a big chunk of their market is the U.S.
Overall, private ownership accounts for only 10 per cent of Canada’s working forest land base, but provides 20 per cent of Canada’s timber supply, the Canadian Forest Owners say in a press release.
“Every mill, regardless of whether they’re producing oriented strandboard, or pulp, or softwood lumber, relies to some extent, on private forest land,” de Vries said.
“At spring breakup, and other times when mills are looking for another source of timber [and] lumber that’s hard to get from Crown forest lands, private forest lands fill that gap. We’re a small percentage of the land base, but we’re a critical part of the wood supply.”
Only four per cent of B.C. timberlands are privately owned, whereas on Prince Edward Island, more than 80 per cent of working forests are privately owned.
In B.C., most of the privately owned timberlands are on Vancouver Island. Mosaic Forest Management is the largest owner-operator of private forests. Manulife also owns private forest land in B.C., de Vries said. Some First Nations in B.C. could also be considered private timberland owners.
Private forest landowners are subject to current softwood lumbers duties, despite the fact those duties are premised on the argument that Canada’s Crown ownership constitutes an unfair government subsidy of sorts.
“Our view is that private forestland managers in Canada operate under the same conditions as private forest land managers in the United States,” de Vries said.
But ownership may be irrelevant for Trump’s tariffs. If it’s made in Canada, it would be hit with tariffs, regardless of whether it comes from private or Crown lands.
The Canadian Forest Owners are asking federal and provincial governments to try to get tariff exemptions for logs from private forests, and compensate private landowners who may be affected by the tariffs.
The organizations is also lobbying governments to “minimize regulatory burden so that they can compete fairly.”