The U.S. Lumber Coalition has raised concerns following the Government of British Columbia’s announcement of a stumpage deferral program aimed at supporting Canada’s softwood lumber producers. According to the Coalition, the program is expected to inject between USD 124 million and USD 242 million in liquidity into British Columbian sawmills over the next 11 months.
The Coalition argues that Canadian producers continue to maintain significant excess production capacity, which it claims has had a negative impact on U.S. softwood lumber companies and workers. The latest provincial support measure follows nearly a decade of determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce finding that Canadian producers engaged in dumping practices and benefited from subsidy schemes.
“This round of subsidies announced by the Government of British Columbia represents not only Canada’s latest attack on President Trump’s trade law enforcement policies, but also U.S. lumber companies, U.S. forestry workers, and the stability of the U.S. lumber supply needed to build American homes,” stated Steve Swanson, CEO of Swanson Group and Chairman of the U.S. Lumber Coalition.
The Coalition emphasized that the majority of lumber used in U.S. residential construction is produced domestically and argued that, under appropriate policy conditions, the United States could become fully self-sufficient in lumber supply.
“The vast majority of the lumber used to build American homes is produced right here at home in the United States. With the right policies, the United States could become fully self-sufficient in supplying the lumber needed to build U.S. homes. Canada’s relentless unfair trade practices, driven by its massive excess lumber capacity, is putting U.S. lumber producers and U.S. lumber supply chains at risk,” stated Zoltan van Heyningen, Executive Director of the U.S. Lumber Coalition.
He further added that continued enforcement of U.S. trade laws, along with additional measures implemented by the Trump Administration, remains essential to preventing further harm to domestic producers and workers while supporting the growth potential of the U.S. lumber industry.
“Canada is not entitled to the U.S. market, especially when it engages in unfair trade practices and maintains its disruptive levels of excess lumber capacity that it then dumps into the U.S. market,” van Heyningen said, adding that “political attacks on the President’s trade policies backed by Canada First organizations in the United States will not help address the true causes of the housing affordability problem, such as the cost of land, regulatory costs, labor costs, and homebuilder profitability rates.”
The development marks another chapter in the long-standing softwood lumber trade dispute between the United States and Canada, with implications for producers, workers and housing supply chains on both sides of the border.
Tags:
