Canada circles its forestry wagons
Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union, has issued a feisty response to the U.S. Commerce Department's planned doubling of lumber duties to more than 34 percent. The union, which represents 22,100 forestry workers across 10 provinces, has called for a "Team Canada" approach to forestry. What does that mean, exactly?
“We have an opportunity to address two crises with one made-in-Canada plan to build the housing we desperately need with our own mass timber and lumber,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Unifor is calling on federal and provincial party leaders to commit to an industrial strategy for forestry that will support forestry operations in every province across the country and keep Canadians working.”
Unifor is pushing hard for government support to revitalize the country's forestry sector, which has seen a 45 percent drop in employment since 2001. It's also eager to become less dependent on exporting wood products -- namely to its southern neighbors.
“We must reduce our historic dependence on exporting lumber and adapt Canada’s forestry industry. The lumber is grown here – now we must process and build here,” said Unifor Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier. “In the short term, we need to see immediate supports for employers to keep workplaces operating, and income supports for workers who face curtailments and layoffs due to these increased duties.”
As Unifor points out in another statement, there's a lot at stake. In 2023, it writes, Canada’s forestry exports (including lumber, raw logs, wood chips, manufactured wood products, and pulp and paper) totaled approximately $38 billion. Of that number, $29.3 billion, or roughly 77 percent, is exported to the United States. It adds that the U.S. imports about 25% of its total softwood lumber consumption from Canada.
Unifor concludes:
"The U.S. tariff threat poses an existential threat to Canada’s forestry sector. But at the same time, this threat is also a wake-up call for governments and forestry companies in this country. We must work together through this current tariff storm, but we must also look ahead to the transformation of our sector, building a more sustainable, inclusive and innovative forestry industry for future generations."
From the other side of the aisle, some in the U.S. view tariffs and increased duties as a means to boost fairness. Perhaps none have been more outspoken on this issue than the U.S. Lumber Coalition, which shared in a statement:
“These unfair trade practices are designed by Canada to maintain an artificially inflated U.S. market share for Canadian products and force US companies to curtail production, thereby killing U.S. jobs,” Andrew Miller, the coalition's chairman.
