Nuu-chah-nulth nations with a stake in forestry are hoping an industry reliant on exporting to the U.S. won’t suffer another blow due to an unpredictable American president.
The alarm was raised early this month after the U.S. Department of Commerce announced on April 4 that duties on Canadian softwood lumber would be raised, increasing from 6.74 to 14.38 per cent. This follows a decision from the U.S. department to increase “anti-dumping” taxes on Canadian wood to 20.07 per cent.
If these duties come into effect later this summer, Canadian lumber will face taxes of 34.45 per cent when entering the American market, according to the B.C. premier’s office.
“This is an attack on forest workers and British Columbians,” said Premier David Eby in a statement, adding that the duties will result in “driving up housing costs for Americans who voted for a president who promised to lower costs.”
Years into a softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States, U.S. tariffs currently sit at 14.4 per cent, but are expected to rise to 34.45 per cent – or higher – by September. The measure follows President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda that got him elected in November, an approach that pledges to protect the American forest industry.
The U.S. Lumber Coalition is in favour of the duties. Since the U.S.-Canada Lumber Agreement expired in 2015, Canada expanded the sale of “below market value” wood to American buyers, states the coalition. This resulted in America’s share of the lumber market declining, mills closing and U.S. jobs being lost.
“Continued full enforcement of the U.S. trade laws is exactly what must happen to create jobs and advance production here at home for a stable, dependable supply of U.S.-made lumber to meet demand and help build the American dream of home ownership,” stated the USLC.
Canadian lumber accounts for 85 per cent of America’s softwood imports, and comprises almost one quarter of the available supply in the United States.
“Canadian lumber mills receive government subsidies, among them below-market harvesting fees from publicly owned land,” continued the coalition. “Canadian lumber producers unfairly outcompete American producers and dump their unfairly traded softwood lumber in the U.S. market, putting U.S. lumber mills – which, unlike Canadian mills, operate under a free market – at a fundamental competitive disadvantage.”
This references the fact that much of Canadian softwood is harvested from Crown land, while more cutblocks south of the border are privately owned. But the assessment of a disadvantage is inaccurate, argues the BC Lumber Trade Council.
“British Columbia does not subsidize its lumber industry,” stated the council. “Timber in B.C. is sold through a transparent, market-based system. Claims that B.C.’s system provides an unfair advantage are simply not supported by the facts. [The U.S. Department of] Commerce continues to employ flawed and misleading methodologies, resulting in the higher rates that were announced.”
For those relying on B.C. forestry, any claims that the industry is unfairly subsidized will be hard to swallow. For decades forestry has been bleeding jobs, with 40,000 fewer positions tied to the industry than in the early 1990s. According to BC Stats, in 2023 there were 49,230 jobs in forestry, showing a 12 per cent decline from the 56,085 tracked a decade earlier.
Meanwhile, by 2023 the province’s annual harvest had dropped to approximately 35 million cubic metres – a low not seen since the early 1960s.
With 65 per cent of B.C.’s lumber exported to the U.S., barriers to the province’s biggest trading partner have some First Nations concerned about the future of the business. For the Tseshaht First Nation, forestry is their No. 1 revenue generator. Through a combination of salvaging, harvest licences, tenures, partnerships and revenue sharing with companies operating in its territory, forestry operations serve as the biggest complement to the First Nation’s government funding. Government funding covers 60-70 per cent of Tseshaht’s operations and services, according to Chief Councillor Ken Watts.
“Forestry is what keeps the lights on for Tseshaht,” he said. “There’s already issues within the industry. It’s already struggling with things like an increased cost to harvest, stumpage rates that the government charges us for our operations, there’s already been struggles. To throw another layer on top of that like tariffs...”
South of the border, not all in the industry favour Trump’s protectionist approach. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that the looming tariffs on Canadian lumber will add $9,200 to the average cost of a home in the U.S. Meanwhile, duties hitting other building materials will cause American homes to cost even more.
“In the long run, tariffs will reduce the availability of building materials, resulting in higher prices,” stated the NAHB. “The president’s global action on tariffs, which will go into effect later this month, means that costs will rise for steel, aluminum, copper, home appliances and scores of other building materials sourced outside of the U.S.”
With the president’s tariffs changing on a daily basis as the stock markets wildly waver in response, Len Apedaile is hoping that the confusion will clear in the coming months. He’s the general manager of Tiičma Forestry, which is owned by the Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k'tles7et'h' First Nations.
“It is a very, very challenging situation, the uncertainty,” said Apedaile. “It is going to take us a couple of months before we see a clear view.”
Tiičma manages tenures in Ka:'yu:'k't'h' and Che:k'tles7et'h' territory on northwest Vancouver Island, selling most of the logs to mills in the Lower Mainland.
“We have to be able to sell logs; this is a very expensive business,” explained Apedaile. “Our costs in our area are amongst the highest on the coast because of our remote location, barging in and out. We have to have a healthy margin to keep operating. We’re not going to be operating if we’re not going to make any money.”
Even so, Tiičma is looking at growth, following the $10-million acquisition of a forestry tenure from Interfor that was announced last July. This will boost Tiičma’s annual allowable cut by 104,000 cubic metres – far more than what it could harvest in the past.
Tiičma isn’t currently logging, but is in the planning stages of harvesting from the new tenure in early fall - if markets make this viable.
“We’ll be having 50-75 going fairly steadily,” said Apedaile of the workforce required for this harvesting. “Most of those will be contractors, and we’ll be using those contractors to provide opportunities to our citizens.”
Although forestry currently appears to be at a low point with little activity, the general manager remains cautiously optimistic.
“With forestry being cyclical as it is, the optimists figure that we’re going to be climbing out of it if Canada starts building houses - there’s still a lot of demand for house building in the U.S.,” said Apedaile, hoping that a recession won’t disrupt this outlook. “But that all hinges on the big ‘R’ word; how much damage the Americans do to their own economy and whether that ends up impacting that demand, because we will feel all of that as well. You can’t diversity overnight.”
