The U.S. Commerce Department has decided to hike anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood to 20.56 per cent, with B.C. lumber organizations calling them unjustified, punitive and protectionist.
The hiked softwood lumber duties come amid the growing trade war between Canada and the U.S., and represent the latest blow to B.C.'s beleaguered forestry industry.
B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar described the long-awaited rate hike as a “gut punch” for B.C.'s forestry industry which has seen thousands of workers laid off over the last few years.
So … I live in the province that’s most impacted by this (BC), but not in a logging area. I gotta admit I’m not really sure how to think about this particular tariff area, despite all the media scare mongering over the years.
Like we hear about mills closing, and logs getting shipped 400km from small communities with closed mills, to get turned into pulp at big mills, generally for export to other countries. And those closures have been ongoing for like decades now, with a seemingly shrinking market presence north of the border despite our governments feigned attempts to take action, and all the free trade stuff that’s been in play. K.
We also hear about the high cost of construction, and have a serious housing problem – with the government saying they’re gonna try addressing that issue more in the next 5 or so years.
We’ll need lumber to make those houses. We can use lumber to make furniture for those houses. Hell, we can use lumber to make things like the towels/dishcloths that go into those houses. We use lumber for our ass paper in those houses. If the US doesn’t want to buy it as a result of them tariffing it to shit, why not sell it cheap to local manufacturers to supply local demand with local product?
One thing I’ve often heard, is that BC exports raw stuff down south, and then we end up buying back processed goods, which seems kinda wrong to me. If those manufacturing facilities are generally south of the border currently… it can’t be that difficult to get em setup up here. I mean, shit, with all those closed mills… repurpose them, and repurpose the people who were in that industry, to be slightly further down that supply chain… no?
Why not sell it cheap?
Because that’s not capitalism. They’d rather set it on fire than sell it for less than that want it to be worth.
So do something similar in structure to the Dairy industry.
Also, supply/demand curves are very much capitalism. When demand goes down, and supply is high, price point goes down to maximize profit. If you want to maintain the price point when demand drops off, you limit supply – not by burning things you’ve already got, but by pulling back on logging / cutting down old growth trees. So, still a win if they go that route, though not as beneficial to Canadians in terms of building stuff.
This will surely make housing more affordable in the U.S!
But he kicked out low pay workers and prices up food and material. Shouldn’t that make home prices come back down?
As an example, remember how Elon got to Mars? Or how he’s selling so many monster trucks?
Another example, put sugar in your lawnmower’s tank. That should help you mow quicker!
Need to bike up a hill? Why not toss a big wrench between the spokes?
Holes on the air plane wings to fly faster?
For folks who are lamenting that the Canada/US relationship has cratered because Trump was reelected, this is something that’s been an ongoing problem since 1982. Canada has been on the “abused” side of this relationship for a long time, it’s just sighed and endured it until now.
just in time to make logging in national parks great again
Nah, the long standing intent is to bankrupt all BC logging companies.
They want unfettered access to BC’s forests. Sadly, conservatives up here have almost given them that.
We need a 200% export tax on raw materials leaving Canada.
They want BC and all of Canada’s territory and Arctic trade routes.
Yeah, but particular to the softwood lumber thing is that for 20 years they’ve been working to get unlimited access to our forests. It really kicked off when Harper completely capitulated to Dubya basically as soon as he got into office. Its been a constant fight since then.
It kicked into high gear with Trump 2.0
It’s forcing Canada to diversify away from the US, which has for decades kept Canada in good sold to US markets below global market value, now with new trading partners Canadian Industry stands to benefit for global market rates and diversified markets.
It’s been long overdue for Canada, and will hurt the US in the long term as it loses prefered customer status.
No, the softwood duties, thanks to Harper capitulating and Trudeau not giving a shit about BC, have resulted in raw logs being shipped to the US and utterly devastating small town BC.
Edit: which is how small town BC went from mixed NDP/CPC to matching Alberta’s idiocy.
Albertas rural communities**
Fuck ‘em. Elbows up brothers.
The article never answers what a “anti-dumping duty” is, so here is a definition “An anti-dumping duty is a tariff imposed by a government on foreign imports that are believed to be priced below fair market value, aimed at protecting domestic industries from unfair competition”
Also. Thanks to Dump Truck Donnie. “This is going to mean that Americans, in particular middle-class Americans, are going to be paying more to the tune of $15,000 to $20,000 more USD to purchase or to build a home."
Add remodel or fix up a home to that last quote. I specialize in restoring and preserving old buildings, in the US that’s usually 100+years. Most of our cost is labor but the main material we use is eastern white pine, AKA soft wood, and you can probably guess where that comes from.
Pine trees?
Fun.
