Susan Holt

Premier Susan Holt says a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country’s premiers left her with little optimism that a deal to end punishing softwood lumber tariffs is anywhere in sight. “I wish I had left those conversations with more optimism.” The US has levelled tariffs on softwood lumber ever since the expiry of a former trade deal in 2017. …“The sense right now is that we need a window of opportunity for us to be able to leverage something in the discussion in order for softwood to get addressed,” Holt said. …As of late 2025, US Customs and Border Protection said it had collected over US$7.2 billion in cash deposits from Canadian softwood lumber producers since 2017. It means that New Brunswick producers have paid upwards of $500 million in duties to date. …Holt suggests the money could be used to entice American industry into a deal.