Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he sees a path to renew the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and anticipates more specifics from the U.S. administration soon. Gearing up to head back to Washington, DC next week to meet with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and “others” next week, LeBlanc said he’s “not pessimistic about renewing the trilateral framework.” “Renewing. It doesn’t expire, it expires in 2036. But the review is not a renegotiation,” LeBlanc said. LeBlanc said two of the key factors underpinning his optimism are that when US President Trump levied his latest global tariff, he maintained the CUSMA exemption, and because American political and business leaders are “speaking up more now.” …Amid speculation that Trump wants to scrap the trilateral trade pact and strike trade deals with Canada and Mexico independently, LeBlanc said the way he sees it, Trump may pursue separate bilateral deals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of CUSMA.
Trade negotiations used to be underpinned by an unspoken assumption: that trade barriers were lose-lose propositions. All sides could gain something if they mutually disarmed. …[They] were always about how much tariffs and other walls would go down, not how much they would go up. …United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer sums up the Trump administration’s break with the postwar trade consensus, saying the administration is “focused on reshoring supply chains related to automotive, steel, aluminum … If Canada wants to come in and participate in this type of reshoring we’re trying to do, we’re happy to have those discussions.” …The U.S. wants higher tariffs at home, and lower tariffs abroad. The old give-and-take is now take-and-take. …”We want to have production here. We don’t necessarily want to be dependent on China, Canada or anybody else for things like cars.” [This article is only available to subscribers to the Globe and Mail]
Anti-dumping and countervailing duties, and now additional tariffs on softwood lumber and derivative wood products add to a long history of trade measures applied to Canadian exports. …Recent trade data shows exports of targeted wood products to the US have declined by roughly 11% in 2025 from a year earlier with losses concentrated in Quebec and BC. Export gains elsewhere have only partially compensated for reduced US market access—in part reflecting the geographical constraints in shipping lumber and wood products. …Average industrial capacity utilization rate for wood product manufacturing has declined roughly 10 percentage points to 75% in 2025 Q3 from a decade earlier, while employment in sawmills and wood preservation fell roughly 20% between May 2017 and November 2025 with more pronounced declines in BC (-32%) and Quebec (-13%). …Reduced domestic supply could also put pressure on downstream industries such as pulp and paper mills and construction. The combination of weak demand and constrained supply raises the risk of further production curtailments and mill closures.
President Donald Trump announced a temporary import duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, shortly after the US Supreme Court struck down his tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The Section 122 surcharge is scheduled to take effect February 24 and remain in place for up to 150 days. Under the proclamation, Section 122 duties do not apply to goods that are subject to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 or that are USMCA compliant. The implications for wood products are as follows:
Delaware – President Trump’s announcement of a 15% tariff following last week’s Supreme Court ruling has created uncertainty in financial markets. While some retailers and consumer companies may benefit from reduced trade barriers, domestic lumber and packaging firms face increased competition from cheaper imports. …On Monday, domestic lumber companies saw their stock prices drop amid concerns that cheaper foreign imports could undercut their pricing power. The court’s tariff decision threatens to erode the competitive advantage that domestic packaging and lumber businesses previously held against lower-cost foreign competitors, industry analysts warn. RBC analysts identified potential negative consequences for companies including Clearwater Paper, Rayonier, Sylvamo, and Smurfit WestRock. A recent industry survey revealed that most U.S. purchasers reported declining containerboard prices in February, as increased European imports expanded supply and created additional pricing pressures. Monday trading saw Smurfit and domestic competitor International Paper decline by 7% and 6%, respectively.
US President Donald Trump just lost his biggest emergency tariff weapon at the US Supreme Court – but for Canadian exporters and long‑term investors, the real story is that the pressure has shifted to narrower, more strategic sectors that matter for jobs, growth and returns. …Trump reacted by promising new tariffs through other statutes. …Section 232 now defines Canada’s real exposure. …Softwood timber and lumber: 10 percent tariffs imposed last October, alongside US countervailing and anti‑dumping duties on Canadian lumber that the Commerce Department increased from 14.5 percent to 35 percent earlier this year. …Upholstered wooden furniture, cabinets and vanities: 25 percent tariffs since last October; a planned increase in January was paused. …Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister for US–Canadian trade relations, told CBC News that “what’s hurting the Canadian economy are the sectoral tariffs under a different American law,” and said this “reminds us again of the importance of diversifying our trading relationships.” 
The US Lumber Coalition has expanded its list of complaints against Canadian softwood producers. The group has presented nine “new subsidy allegations,” claiming that Canadian producers benefit from federal government programs, including one that offers refundable tax credits for clean technology such as solar power. …The Commerce Department is investigating the nine new allegations put forward by the group. Canada has repeatedly rejected American arguments that Canadian producers benefit from subsidies and also denies dumping. …One of the group’s complaints targets a federal program in Canada, open to eligible forestry companies, that provides refundable tax credits for carbon capture, utilization and storage. In addition, the group’s allegations name provincial programs in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. …The Commerce Department deferred a potential probe, suggested by the Coalition, into cases pertaining to alleged subsidies for long-term timber tenures in BC and Alberta. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]
It took only a few hours after the 
The US Customs and Border Protection agency said it will halt collections of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act at 12:01 a.m. EST on Tuesday, more than three days after the US Supreme Court declared the duties illegal. The agency said in a message to shippers on its Cargo Systems Messaging Service that it will de-activate all tariff codes associated with US President Trump’s prior IEEPA-related orders as of Tuesday. The IEEPA tariff collection halt coincides with Trump’s imposition of a new, 15% global tariff under a different legal authority to replace the ones struck down by the Supreme Court on Friday. CBP gave no reason why it was continuing to collect the tariffs days after the Supreme Court’s ruling. The message noted that the collection halt does not affect other tariffs imposed by Trump under the Section 232 national security statute and the Section 301 unfair trade practices statute.
An Oregon jury has awarded $305 million to 16 wildfire survivors harmed by the Santiam Canyon wildfire that burned across hundreds of thousands of acres in 2020. This is the largest jury verdict issued in relation to the James v. PacifiCorp class-action lawsuit, pushing PacifiCorp’s total liability past $1 billion. PacifiCorp — the parent company of Pacific Power, Oregon’s second-largest electric utility — kept its lines charged over the 2020 Labor Day weekend, despite fire officials’ warnings about hot, windy weather. Five people died in the Santiam Canyon fire, and more than 400,000 acres burned across four counties. In 2023, a jury found PacifiCorp was reckless and acted in “gross negligence” in relation to multiple wildfires, including the Santiam fire. In addition to the 17 plaintiffs who sued the company in that case, the jury found a broader class of thousands of people can bring additional claims against PacifiCorp for those wildfires.
Lumber futures fell toward $550 per thousand board feet, marking a six-week low, as a stagnant North American housing sector failed to absorb heavy seasonal inventories. Demand weakened as January data showed a 7% year over year drop in single family starts and an 8.4% decline in units under construction. High 6.25% mortgage rates and a 5.8% slump in Canadian home sales during January 2026 further stalled new project starts. On the supply side, regional inventory remained bloated. While BC curtailments continued harsh winter storms in the US South halted jobsite activity more than mill output, creating a distributor logjam and forcing aggressive dealer discounting to clear yard space. Additionally, while Trump’s administration 45% softwood duties were meant to buoy prices they instead stifled demand by adding nearly $17,500 to average home costs. This eroded the builder confidence needed to clear current supply.
VANCOUVER, BC – Canfor Corporation announced today that it will record a non-cash asset write down and impairment charge totaling approximately $321 million in its fourth quarter of 2025 results. Of this amount, $215 million relates to the Company’s lumber segment and $106 million relates to its pulp and paper segment. In the lumber segment, the impairment is associated with the Company’s European operations and reflects ongoing log supply pressures in the region, which have resulted in significant increases in log costs and reduced asset carrying values. In the pulp segment, the impairment reflects sustained declines in global US-dollar pulp list prices as well as continued challenges in securing economically viable fibre necessary to support operations. This impairment charge is non-cash in nature and does not affect Canfor’s liquidity position, cash flows or day-to-day operations.
US labor productivity in construction falls 30% from 1970 to 2024, while aggregate US labor productivity more than doubles over the same period, widening a long-running gap between construction and the wider economy. Since 1965, construction labor productivity falls by an average 0.6% per year, while economy-wide productivity grows about 1.6% per year, based on analysis by Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research. The analysis links part of the gap to limited innovation in construction equipment and processes after a period of faster adoption in the 1950s and 1960s. The share of industrial machines in total construction production costs rises from 4% in 1948 to 12% in 1968, then slips to 10% in the 1970s and stays near that level, while pre-fabrication’s share of new residential housing units falls from about one-third at its peak in 1960–1970 to 5%.
Contractors in certain niches can expect some meaningful materials price reductions after the Supreme Court struck down most of President Trump’s tariffs Friday. The court rejected Trump’s claim to authority to impose reciprocal tariffs. That would drive “a modest but meaningful reduction in materials price escalation” for specialty equipment, HVAC and electrical systems and fixtures, said Anirban Basu, chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors. …But the administration quickly signaled plans for alternative tariff methods shortly after the ruling. AGC also noted other materials-specific tariffs on lumber, steel, aluminum and copper products are unaffected by Friday’s decision. Taken together, that means the Supreme Court decision “could be short-lived and completely counteracted,” said Basu. That back-and-forth tends to stall construction activity as owners and contractors weigh whether the decision will hold. …AGC has told builders not to hold their breath waiting for refund checks.
The Wood Innovations Funding Opportunity supports the growth and expansion of U.S. wood products and wood energy markets, advancing sustainable forest management and the long-term stewardship of National Forest System (NFS) lands and other forested areas. …The Wood Innovations Funding Opportunity provides a strategic platform for public, private, and non-profit entities to expand wood markets, promote sustainable forest management, and advance wood energy and mass timber technologies across the United States. By funding projects that create tangible economic and environmental impact, the program strengthens domestic wood product industries while supporting the responsible management of forest resources. Deadline is April 22, 2026
MESA COUNTY, Colorado. – Mesa County commissioners have passed a wildfire resiliency code that will affect the construction of new houses and projects on current structures, including re-roofing. The code, required by state legislation, applies only to buildings in the Wildland Urban Interface — a designated area marking locations close to potential wildfires. It mandates that projects in those areas use more fire-resistant materials and regulates where new structures can be built. “It’s not going to keep houses from burning down…,” Davis said. “What it’s designed to do is to keep it from burning as quick and as violently so that people can get out and get to safety.” Davis said the new code could make building in affected areas slower and more expensive. “To make things fire resistant, it costs money. The cheapest siding out there is wood-based and more affordable, but it’s also going to be more flammable,” Davis said.
Massachusetts is considering changing state building codes to allow single staircases in multi-family residential buildings up to six stories. Advocates say the change would result in smaller buildings, space savings that could lead to 130,000 new housing units. Before changing the building codes, which currently require two exit stairways, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has signed an executive order establishing a technical advisory panel to study potential safety issues. “We’re all about making it easier to build more housing across our state to drive down costs for everyone,” Healey said in a statement. “While the double-stair requirement plays an important role in ensuring safety, it’s also holding us back from the type of housing construction we need to meet demand.” …New York City and Seattle, Washington have “permitted single-stair buildings up to six stories for decades,” the administration says…, as have the states of Tennessee, Montana, and Connecticut.
New research from The Nature Conservancy, the University of California, Berkeley and the USDA Forest Service, published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, details how wildfires could be leveraged to increase forest resilience to future high-severity fires across the Western United States. Wildfires can be a powerful regenerative force for nature. However, modern wildfires in forests across the Western US have become uncharacteristically destructive, largely due to climate change and more than a century of fire suppression. Mechanical thinning and prescribed fire are used to reduce wildfire size and severity, but compliance restrictions and logistical challenges, as well as agency staffing capacity and funding constraints, often limit the scale of their treatment. The paper recommends that forest managers work in and adjacent to recent wildfire footprints to increase the pace and scale of fuel treatments, including low-to-moderate-severity wildfires (beneficial wildfire), and outlines three pathways for effectively leveraging these footprints.
A research paper questions a key rationale for expanding road access in national forests. Lifting restrictions on road construction in national forests could lead to more wildfires, according to a newly published study. The research led by a senior scientist at The Wilderness Society — which opposes the Trump administration’s proposal to reopen forests to new roads and logging — reinforces earlier studies finding that fire ignitions are more numerous near forest roads, including for fires started by lightning. The new research, published in the 
President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to promote the domestic production of phosphorus and the weedkiller glyphosate, which he said is critical to both defense and food security. Glyphosate is often targeted by supporters of the Make America Healthy Again movement as a harmful chemical. Trump aligned with the MAHA movement after Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the 2024 election. “I find that ensuring robust domestic elemental phosphorus mining and United States-based production of glyphosate-based herbicides is central to American economic and national security,” Trump said in the order. “Without immediate Federal action, the United States remains inadequately equipped and vulnerable.” Glyphosate … has been the subject of controversy over alleged links to cancer. Bayer, the company that makes the glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup, recently proposed paying $7.25 billion to settle lawsuits claiming the chemical causes cancer.
ARIZONA — The Forest Service budget to thin the forest is down. But hey, at least there’s a budget. That is the bad news/good news gist of a report on the 4-Forests Restoration Initiative (4-FRI) delivered last week at the Natural Resources Working Group meeting. Fortunately, the state Forestry Department is also continuing to fund thinning projects, including creating buffer zones around forested communities like Payson. However, time may be running out to restore the overgrown, drought-plagued forest. The meeting also featured a report documenting the worsening condition of the forest as thinning efforts falter. Jon Orona, with Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, reported that 2025 was the fifth-driest year ever recorded – with average temperatures between 6 and 12 degrees above normal.
More than 110 million acres of land across the U.S. are protected in 806 federally designated wilderness areas – together an area slightly larger than the state of California. For the most part, these places have been left alone for decades, in keeping with the 1964 Wilderness Act’s directive that they be “untrammeled by man.” But in a time when lands are experiencing the effects of climate change and people are renewing their understanding of Indigenous knowledge and stewardship practices, protecting these places may require action, not inaction. …First, the American ideal that wildlands flourish best in the absence of human management – conflicts with the growing understanding that many wilderness areas are part of the ancestral homelands of Indigenous peoples, who tended those lands for thousands of years. …And second, as climate change and ecological stressors affect wilderness, human intervention could help sustain the very ecological qualities that are protected.
Large, bipartisan majorities of voters across eight Western states remain concerned about the impacts of climate change and opposed to efforts by the Trump administration to weaken environmental rules and public lands protections. Eighty-four percent of Western voters say “rollbacks of laws that protect our land, water and wildlife” are a serious problem, up from 68% eight years ago, according to a poll released by Colorado College’s State of the Rockies project. The annual Conservation in the West poll has measured Western voters’ views of environmental and energy issues since 2011. The 2026 survey is based on interviews conducted in January with 3,419 voters in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. “After 16 years, it’s become a rare longitudinal data set that lets us track how public attitudes have shifted over time throughout the West,” said Ian Johnson, Colorado College’s director of strategic initiatives and sustainability.
Federal officials are proposing to ramp up logging on 2.5 million acres of western Oregon forests as part of a Trump administration priority to expand domestic timber production. The Bureau of Land Management is asking for public comment on its plan through March 23. The federal agency said last week it would update the Western Oregon Resource Management Plan that governs logging on the state’s checkerboard “O&C forests” located in 18 Oregon counties. Known as O&C lands for having once belonged to the Oregon and California Railroad, the forests produced more than 1 billion board feet of timber annually from 1960 and 1989. …BLM’s latest proposal, issued Feb. 19 … could mean a timber harvest that returns to 1 billion board feet. …Oregon’s timber industry celebrated the latest news… Environmental groups strongly opposed the decision…
ARIZONA — A coalition of local governments, timber industry representatives and environmental groups plans to tell congressional leaders and US Forest Service officials this week that Northern Arizona’s forests — and the timber industry that depends on them — face collapse without construction of a second, 30-megawatt biomass-burning power plant. The group will carry that message to Washington, DC, arguing that a “biomass bottleneck” threatens forest restoration efforts, watersheds and rural communities. Two concurring reports outline the concern: one issued by the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization and the Natural Resources Working Group in the White Mountains, and another from the Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership (GFFP) and the Forest Biomass Coalition Working Group. …The report concludes that, while private industry may eventually develop products such as fiberboard or biochar from forest byproducts, only a second biomass-burning plant near Flagstaff or Winslow offers a proven, near-term solution.
Montana — Punch more roads through the forest, and you’ll get more people starting fires, fewer bull trout and an even heftier maintenance bill. Keep the 2001 Roadless Rule in place, and you’ll ensure elk have a healthy habitat, and you’ll still be able to reduce wildfire risk. Those were some of the arguments former U.S. Forest Service employees made Friday at the edge of the Silver King Inventoried Roadless Area east of Missoula. Montana Trout Unlimited and the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers hosted the event as the Trump administration takes steps to repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule. The rule prohibits building roads and harvesting timber on 30% of Forest Service land in the country, or 60 million acres. In Montana, that’s 6.4 million acres, or 37% of Forest Service land in the state.
A plan to revise the Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management plan, with a new emphasis on timber and other resource industries as mandated by President Donald Trump, is set to begin a 30-day public comment period. … The 1979 plan for the 16.7-million-acre forest has been revised three times, most recently in 2016, and the agency hopes to publish a new draft plan by this fall. A forest service press release spells out the past and new parameters that will be considered in the revised draft. “Public comments will help identify changes that are needed to the current plan, adopted in 1997, to align with best available science, as well as laws and regulations, including Presidents Trump’s Executive Order 14225 – Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production to support American economies and improve forest health and Executive Order 14153 Unleash Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential, benefitting the Nation and the American citizens who call Alaska home.”
SALEM — A bill meant to reward Oregon landowners for wildfire risk mitigation with more affordable insurance rates will survive until the end of the 2026 legislative session. However, supporters of Senate Bill 1540 haven’t yet reached complete agreement with the insurance industry on the proposal, which could threaten its passage given this year’s time constraints. “It is a challenge to get this done in a 35-day session,” said Kenton Brine, president of the NW Insurance Council, which represents the regional industry. In broad terms, SB 1540 will require insurance companies to consider wildfire mitigation actions in their models for assessing risk, which inform pricing and policy decisions. Insurers will have to submit these models for verification with Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services, but if they don’t, they will still have to offer discounts to landowners who undertake wildfire mitigation steps.
WILMINGTON, N.C. – The N.C. Forest Service (NCFS) is reminding the public to use best practices and common sense with outdoor fires ahead of the state’s spring wildfire season. NCFS officials say escaped yard debris burns are the leading cause of wildfires across the state, often due to carelessness. 99% of wildfires are caused by human activity, officials said, often when people work in their yards in spring and burn yard debris. Other causes of human-caused wildfires include machine and vehicle use, such as dragging tow chains, arson and escaped campfires. “With the recent rainfall combined with multiple winter storms earlier this year, some folks may not realize that most of North Carolina is still experiencing very dry conditions,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Our state’s gradual descent into drought and prolonged dry conditions are going to lead to wildfires igniting more easily, burning more intensely and spreading quicker.”
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — The Arkansas Department of Agriculture announced some of its forestry personnel will go to Oklahoma and Tennessee to help with wildfire suppression and winter storm response. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders authorized state forestry personnel to support wildfire suppression in Oklahoma and urban tree recovery in Tennessee. …Six wildland firefighters will go to Oklahoma for around two weeks. These firefighters will focus on attacking and suppressing new wildfires to prevent further spread. The Department is also sending four bulldozers and two pick-up trucks to help. Three urban forestry personnel will go to Tennessee to join an Urban Forest Strike Team, a specialized group of certified arborists, foresters, and urban forestry experts. Arkansas forestry personnel will help the UFST with tree damage and risk assessments, hazard mitigation planning, and technical expertise and training.
A coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday, challenging the rescinding of a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. A rule finalized by the EPA last week revoked 
Wildfires have increased in frequency and severity over the past few decades. More fires are burning at the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where homes and other buildings meet the natural landscape—but our understanding of emissions from structure fires is still growing. New research led by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences shows that common synthetic materials used in homes, like plastics and insulation, can release harmful compounds into the air when they burn. But synthetic materials make up only a small fraction of a home. Timber and wood panels make up the majority of the materials used, and the burning emissions from those are not so different from a vegetation fire. The work, 
Supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” strategy have long railed against pesticides, making opposition to them a pillar of the movement. But an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump last week collides with that long-held stance. The order states that glyphosate … is “central to American economic and national security” and calls for an adequate domestic supply. Glyphosate inhibits protein synthesis in plants and microorganisms, leading to their death. Scientists can genetically modify field crops — choosing which survive after glyphosate treatment. US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a key figure in the MAHA movement, has long opposed glyphosate-based pesticides. …He reiterated last month on Katie Miller’s podcast that “I believe glyphosate causes cancer.” But Kennedy sounded a different tone. “Donald Trump’s executive order puts America first where it matters most — our defense readiness and our food supply,” said Kennedy.