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.