Luc Thériault

OTTAWA — The chummy Washington trip that saw Mark Carney dine with Vice President JD Vance and his family … left Canadian lumber representatives fuming. They say Donald Trump’s tariffs are crushing them yet didn’t even warrant a mention in the Oval Office. …Luc Theriault, co-chair of the Canadian Lumber Trade Alliance, said that the Carney government has paid “lip service” to the need to resolve lumber tariffs in recent months, while telling the industry to co-ordinate their positions and form a common front. But in Washington Tuesday, the prime minister was publicly silent on 35-per-cent lumber tariffs that are set to rise to 45 per cent next week and which Theriault says are a blow to the sector. “We’re deeply disappointed,” Theriault said. …He said the American lumber lobby is a powerful influence in Washington, but there are substantive arguments to reject Trump’s claim that America does not need Canadian wood products.