While members of sa国际传媒鈥檚 legislature play their political games, sa国际传媒 and the U.S. are involved in a softwood-lumber war that could cost the provincial economy dearly. Get the partisan wrangling over quickly, and get on with looking after the interests of the province.
The U.S. Department of Commerce increased tariffs this week on Canadian softwood lumber, adding to countervailing duties applied in April. That means the industry faces average duties of about 27 per cent, although the rates vary by company, depending on the price each company sets.
This is painful for sa国际传媒 鈥� the forestry industry is the largest sector of the province鈥檚 economy. The No. 1 market for sa国际传媒 lumber is the U.S. 鈥� $4.6 billion worth in 2016. Punitive tariffs imposed by the U.S. cut into profits and bring about job losses here.
The U.S. cannot produce enough lumber for its own needs, and relies on sa国际传媒 for about 27 per cent of the wood used for construction. Despite that dependence, the lumber trade between the two countries has often been marked by hostility and tension. A true British Columbian cannot utter the words 鈥渟oftwood lumber鈥� without adding the word 鈥渄ispute鈥� to the conversation.
And with good reason. Since 1982, softwood-lumber exports to the U.S. have been the focus of five rounds of litigation between sa国际传媒 and the U.S., resulting in three trade agreements. The last one was implemented in 2006 and expired in October 2015, with the provision the U.S. could not take action against sa国际传媒 for a year after the agreement expired.
The disputes are the result of complaints from the U.S. lumber industry, which maintains that sa国际传媒 unfairly subsidizes the forestry industry and keeps prices in the U.S. too low. International tribunals have consistently stated this is not the case, or that if there are Canadian subsidies, they have a negligible effect on the market.
sa国际传媒 will likely win this round, too, but it will be a long battle, and a costly one. When a trade dispute over softwood erupted in 2001, sa国际传媒 lost 15,000 forestry-industry jobs in a matter of months.
The softwood issue got several passing mentions in the legislature this week, but it was largely finger-pointing. NDP Leader John Horgan listed the softwood lumber agreement among the 鈥渕esses鈥� that were 鈥渢he creation of 16 years of sa国际传媒 Liberal governments.鈥�
That elicited this response from Forests and Lands Minister John Rustad: 鈥淲e heard something historic today. The leader of the opposition talked about softwood lumber in the legislature for the first time in four or five years.鈥�
Provincial officials don鈥檛 have a lot of control over what happens with the softwood dispute 鈥� it鈥檚 a fight taking place mainly at the federal level 鈥� but sa国际传媒 has a huge dog in this fight. It鈥檚 quite clear the sa国际传媒 Liberals will fall this week to be replace by the NDP-Green coalition.
It鈥檚 a process that must run its course, but then provincial needs should take place over partisan priorities. When the dust is settled, they should form a united front on the softwood-lumber issue.
Our politicians should be working together to protect an important sector of our economy, rather than booting it about like a soccer ball as they strive to score points against their opponents.
