U.S. border reopened to Canadian cattle

[Az]

Bending over, I see

[Ben Kenobi]

Lumber is the reverse. The US needs raw lumber for their mills, but Canada has more mill capacity, and would rather ship processed lumber to the US. The US has had a tariff for more than 5 years on lumber shipments to the US, but they don't have any restrictions on raw logs. Canada, understandeably, regulates the raw log exports to the US, in order to keep our own mills working with Canadian lumber.

The beef ban has two features that make it different. First of all, it is Alberta that is pinched by the beef ban, and BC that is pinched by the lumber. No one cares about BC. Secondly, there incentive on the US side to keep the tariff is that the mills in the US get to keep the payments made in tariffs from their partners in Canada, so the measure is a strict protectionist move to help them keep up with their better Canadian competitors.

[Ben Kenobi]

B.C. Lumber Trade Council believes a trade war with the Americans over softwood lumber would be costly and should be avoided by accommodating U.S. demands.

And they have been roundly criticised in BC for the stance. British Columbians want a resolution to the lumber battle without capitulation, even though we are the ones who are best prepared to weather the storm.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Az
Bending over, I see

This should not surprise you.

[Ben Kenobi]

Now, stumpage is an interesting deal. In BC, which is the largest lumber producer in Canada, it works to subsidise the coastal mills who work with cedar and hemlock on the coast. The stumpage fees make lumber in the interior, (where I am from), more costly, which makes up the vast majority of our exports to the US. In reality, the reason why Canada can ship lumber anywhere in the US more cheaply then they can, is because we have larger production capacity, better access to timber, and more efficient mills.