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National Post
12 minutes ago
- National Post
Carney vows $1.2 billion bailout for lumber sector hit by Trump tariffs
Prime Minister Mark Carney promised as much as $1.2 billion to shore up Canada's lumber industry, which has been hit hard by U.S. duties that are about to significantly increase. Article content Carney said Tuesday that up to $700 million in loan guarantees will help forestry companies of all sizes maintain and restructure their operations. He also pledged $500 million in grants and contributions for product development and market diversification. Article content Article content Article content 'Canada does not dump lumber into the United States, and we will continue to make the case that these current and proposed duties are unjustified,' Carney said in West Kelowna, B.C. Article content Article content 'We are a vital supplier to our southern neighbour, representing around a quarter of the U.S. market and helping to keep down the costs of American homes.' Article content The dispute between the U.S. and Canada over softwood lumber stretches back decades, with the U.S. periodically imposing duties to counteract what it claims are unfair Canadian government subsidies. Article content The U.S. Commerce Department is expected on Friday to conclude hiking duties on Canadian softwood to about 35 per cent from a previous total of 14.4 per cent. That's a combination of anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Article content U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated the fight even further, ordering an increase to U.S. lumber production and an investigation of the national security risk of lumber imports. The probe is under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which Trump has already used to place new tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper. Article content Article content Canada shipped $40.3 billion of forest products and building and packaging materials to the U.S. last year, its fifth-largest category of exports to its largest trading partner. Article content Article content Carney said his government would launch its promised homebuilding agency, called Build Canada Homes, in the fall, which will prioritize Canadian lumber, steel and aluminum in construction. Article content It will also require companies contracting with the federal government to source domestic well, the government will draft new initiatives to diversify international markets for Canadian lumber, along with retraining programs for workers, he said. Article content Canada has long denied the U.S. claim that it sets artificially low 'stumpage rates,' fees sawmills pay to provinces to harvest timber from government-owned forests. Article content The World Trade Organization in 2020 largely backed Canada's argument that U.S. levies were unfair. Article content But that stance may be softening. Last month, British Columbia Premier David Eby told Bloomberg News that some Canadian leaders are open to a quota on softwood lumber exports to the U.S. in order to resolve the dispute.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
PM vows $1.2B for softwood lumber industry
Vancouver Watch As a trade deal with the US remains in limbo, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a big bailout for the impacted softwood lumber industry while visiting B.C.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Relief for B.C.'s softwood industry welcomed by industry, politicians
As a trade deal with the US remains in limbo, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a big bailout for the impacted softwood lumber industry while visiting B.C. After touring Gorman Bros. Lumber in West Kelowna Tuesday, Prime Minister Carney announced a series of supports to sustain the softwood industry, which is currently being hammered by American duties. 'I'm going to focus on how we can help transform our softwood lumber industry to compete in this tough new environment,' Carney told reporters. The prime minister pledged $700 million in loan guarantees to help struggling businesses facing U.S. import duties that effectively doubled last week to 27 per cent and have tied up approximately $10 billion dollars worth of goods at the border. Brian Menzies, the head of the Independent Wood Processors Association, said Carney's announcement is helping to ease some of the uncertainty in the sector. 'These owners of these companies are very worried, they're worried about losing their people,' he said. The prime minister also promised $500 million in funding for new product development, including for materials used in prefabricated modular homes, and for new market diversification. 'For him to understand how important it is for us to do that is good. It's going to take us a while, diversifying our markets. It's helpful they acknowledged that,' Menzies said. There's also a push for prioritizing and procuring Canadian lumber to be used for Canadian homes and infrastructure. 'We will be our own best customer for Canadian softwood, for Canadian projects,' said Carney. That sentiment was echoed by B.C.'s Forestry Minister Ravi Parmar, who notes the province's outside place in the global softwood lumber export market. 'I think there is an opportunity for British Columbia, as the second largest exporter of softwood lumber in the world, not only to help build infrastructure in British Columbia but throughout this entire country,' said Parmar. The final measure laid out by the prime minister reflects the punishing realities of the duties and the current state of the sector – $50 million in funding for lumber workers to be retrained for work in other fields. B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad welcomed the news of supports, but emphasized the need for a deal on softwood lumber than preserves jobs in the beleaguered industry. 'They're tired of retraining program, they just want their jobs, they want these good paying supporting family jobs in our forest sector,' he said Tuesday following the announcement.
