Mark Carney
Prime Minister Carney says any future trade deal with the US could include “some element of managed trade,” including quotas, on softwood lumber exports. Carney’s comments come after B.C. Premier David Eby said that the federal government has been speaking with the provinces about quotas to resolve the softwood lumber dispute. Carney added that resolving the conflict is a “top priority” as the US prepares to double various duties to 34.45%. Canada and the US have been without a softwood lumber agreement since 2015, and Eby has previously said that resolving the dispute could “build momentum” for a larger trade deal. US President Trump’s latest threat is to impose 35% tariffs by Aug. 1 on Canadian goods currently not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Carney says he agrees with Eby’s idea of resolving the lumber dispute as part of a larger trade deal, but notes that both issues are unfolding along different times lines.
Related coverage in: Business in Vancouver: Carney confirms possibility of lumber quotas in trade deal with US
Prime Minister Carney says securing a truce in the long-running Canada-US lumber dispute is a top priority as Canadian producers brace for even heftier US levies as early as September. …Mr. Carney declined to say what level of baseline tariff Ottawa would accept in a new trade and security pact with Washington. …Mr. Carney was asked whether Canada would impose tariffs on US products if the US keeps a baseline levy on Canadian goods. “We’ll see what the final agreement is, if there is an agreement,” he said. …Historically, Mr. Carney said lumber deals with the US contain “some element of managed trade” such as quotas on Canadian shipments to the US. …Mr. Pellerin, a former Canadian government softwood litigator, said he thinks it would be unwise to strike a deal before litigation related to the softwood dispute plays out. There are several challenges of US duties on softwood proceeding under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement dispute mechanism. [This story is for Globe and Mail subscribers only]
Canada is open to considering limits on softwood lumber exports to the U.S. to try to ease some trade friction between the neighboring countries, British Columbia Premier David Eby told Bloomberg News in a report published on Wednesday. “One of the asks for years out of the American coalition has been a quota — that there’s a fixed amount of lumber that gets to come from Canada,” Eby told Bloomberg News. “And I think that, for the first time, there’s some willingness to have a conversation about what that could look like.” [to access the full story, a Reuters or Bloomberg Economics subscription is required]
Is Brazil playing fair when it comes to trade? An investigation launched July 15 by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) aims to find the answer. The Section 301 investigation will seek to determine whether acts, policies, and practices of the Government of Brazil related to a host of trade issues — including ethanol market access and forestry practices — are “unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” “Brazil has walked away from its willingness to provide virtually duty-free treatment for U.S. ethanol and instead now applies a substantially higher tariff on U.S. ethanol exports,” the USTR office wrote in announcing the investigation. The announcement also said Brazil appears to be failing to effectively enforce laws and regulations designed to stop illegal deforestation — which undermines the competitiveness of U.S. producers of timber and ag products.
WASHINGTON – American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock today reacted to recent US-EU trade negotiations: “We appreciate President Trump and his administration’s efforts to further enhance fair and reciprocal trade with key partners like the European Union. Addressing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers is crucial to ensuring a positive trade relationship for the pulp, paper, packaging and tissue products manufacturing industry. “The EU’s deforestation free regulation (EUDR), which has been identified as a non-tariff trade barrier by the U.S. Trade Representative, risks over $3.5 billion in annual forest products exports to the EU. “We encourage President Trump and his administration to continue working towards a fair and reciprocal trade relationship with the EU that fixes this regulation while improving other aspects of trade for U.S. paper manufacturers.”
Lumber futures traded above $650 per thousand board feet, hovering near April highs driven by tightening US sawmill output and dwindling import volumes, both of which are near their lowest levels in half a decade. Domestic production in the first quarter slipped year-on-year, and imports, including softwood lumber from Canada, have contracted sharply, leaving US framing material availability at its leanest since 2019. At the same time, builders are contending with looming tariff hikes that could push duties on Canadian lumber from roughly 14.5% today toward the mid-30s, adding several thousand dollars to the cost of new homes. Although a modest pull-back in construction activity has softened recent gains, overall demand remains sufficient to absorb current supply, and without a rapid expansion in US mill capacity or alternative sourcing, these supply constraints, compounded by rising trade barriers, are likely to sustain upward pressure on lumber prices in the months ahead.
President Donald Trump’s flurry of tariff letters to more two dozen countries has triggered new threats of retaliation. Key US industries are increasingly worried they are going to be collateral damage. The European Union on Monday released a targeted list of $88 billion worth of US goods it plans to tariff if it doesn’t make more progress in trade talks with Trump. Brazil, staring down a 50% duty on its exports to the US over Trump’s frustration with their domestic politics. …While the hardening battle lines in the negotiations could be part of each sides’ effort to force more concessions, domestic business groups aren’t counting on it. Instead, they are mobilizing to try and convince both the Trump administration and foreign governments that it would be a mistake to target their industries. …On Tuesday, the president dismissed the idea that the EU may go through with their proposed retaliatory tariffs.
Replacing concrete and steel with mass timber in buildings could significantly reduce global carbon emissions and spur the expansion of intensively managed forests, a new study by Yale School of the Environment research scientists found. Published in 
Hundreds of wildfires are burning across the Western states, Alaska and Canada as fire season perks up amid a sprawling heat wave and widespread dry conditions. …Fires are being fueled by widespread high temperatures and dry conditions. …The preparedness level is at 4 out of 5 for the U.S., and 5 out of 5 in Canada. Intense fire behavior was reported in 10 western US states over recent days in regions afflicted by heat and drought. …Alaska has seen major wildfire activity over the past week, with more than 300,000 of the 750,000 acres burned this year going up in flames, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection. …After a bit of a lull in firestorms in late June to early July, Canadian wildfires returned in a big way. More than 350 fires are burning out of control across the western two-thirds of the nation. Among the most concerning fires flaring, many are in Manitoba. [A Washington Post subscription is required for full access to this story]
A new tool sheds light on the impact of wildfires across California. The 
New federal laws could “lock up” timber land for decades at a time, raising concerns big companies could elbow out smaller competitors and that timber revenue for counties could be delayed for years. President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and spending bill, which he signed into law earlier this month, increases the length of federal logging contracts to a minimum of 20 years. The contracts, which determine how long a logging company has to harvest on the land under contract, have typically averaged three to four years, and the longest contracts extended up to 10 years. The concern raised by a coalition of timber companies and local governments is that companies could sign long-term contracts, then wait years to harvest trees. “If the timber volume is tied up in these 20 year contracts,” Doug Robertson, executive director of the Association of O&C counties, said, “that volume then is no longer available to generate revenue for the counties and the state.”
Oregon’s forestry board has long had the power to hire and fire the state forester, who oversees logging and environmental protections on state lands, as well as firefighting across millions of acres of public and private land. But the board lost that hiring-and-firing power this session with Senate Bill 1051, which handed it over to the governor. This bill has left many forestry board members wondering how much authority they still have. “Right now, after the passage of this senate bill, I have very little reason to trust your office,” vice chair Brenda McComb told members of Gov. Tina Kotek’s staff at the board’s Wednesday meeting. There’s a lot riding on forest management in Oregon. Revenues raised from logging trees on state lands help fund rural schools and some county budgets. Timber sales are also a key revenue source for the Oregon Department of Forestry, which fights fires on about 12 million acres of private land.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and Representative Joe Neguse, along with other politicians, introduced the Joint Chiefs Reauthorization Act. This legislation would reauthorize the program to better support forest and grassland restoration projects on both public and private lands. “Our Western forests, grasslands, and watersheds are as important to our economy as the Lincoln Tunnel is to New York, but they are under threat from a changing climate and consistent federal underinvestment,” said Bennet. …Bennet mentioned that strengthening the program will ensure that restoring landscapes, protecting water supplies, and reducing wildfire risks can continue for future generations. “Western and Northern Colorado are all too familiar with the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires,” said Neguse.
Could President Donald Trump’s strategies help revive Washington’s diminished timber industry? For nearly a century, Washington’s timber industry produced everything from paper and two-by-fours to the massive wood beams that hold up the Tacoma Dome. Lumber mills were the backbone of logging towns throughout the Northwest. But the industry has been on a long decline since the 1990s. Now, Trump wants to reduce foreign competition and increase US logging to bring back those jobs. To find out whether it could work, KUOW visited a sawmill in Morton, a small town in the foothills of Mount Rainier. …Today, the state has about 100,000 timber-related jobs, including mills. That means Washington has lost about a quarter of its timber jobs in the last thirty years. The loss has been devastating to rural communities built around those sawmills, like Morton, Washington. …The Hampton Mill is still the economic heart of the community today. It’s survived the waves of closures over the years.
A new analysis reveals that many of Eastern Oregon’s ancient trees are dying at an alarming rate. The study, conducted by a team led by James Johnston, an assistant research professor at the University of Oregon, found that between 2012 and 2023, a quarter of trees over 300 years old in roadless areas of the Malheur National Forest had died. Johnston attributed the decline to a combination of drought, insect infestations, and competition with younger trees. “It’s sad to see so many old trees dying,” Johnston said. He emphasized the need for active management to protect these ancient trees, particularly in the dry forests of Eastern and Southern Oregon. The study, published in the journal 
For a few years, foragers and fungi enthusiasts around the Midwest have been seeing something yellow. The butter-colored flushes of the golden oyster mushroom are difficult to miss. They bloom on dead or decaying trees, and they have become profuse in states around the Great Lakes. The fungi, which are native to Asia, are good to eat and easy to grow. But a new study shows that they may also be sapping the resources of native mushrooms. And their footprint is spreading fast. “I don’t think anyone would hesitate to call it invasive,” said Aishwarya Veerabahu, a mycologist and doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an author of the 
On a day in early June, state forester Will Phifer carried a pill bottle-orange canister into a southeastern Oklahoma forest, tied it to a shaded tree trunk and left. The area was a confirmed spot for a growing population of tree-killing beetles called emerald ash borers, which likely seeped into the state from the east. The container held what scientists hope is a solution to controlling the harmful pest: more than 100 minuscule parasitoid wasp eggs. “These emerald ash borer eggs are laid on the outer bark of the tree,” Dieter Rudolph, forest health specialist for Oklahoma Forestry Services, said. “So, this wasp will go find them and basically inject an egg into the emerald ash borer egg.” Instead of producing an emerald ash borer larva, the host egg will hatch a new wasp.
MOUNT HOOD, Oregon — The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday afternoon issued a Level 3 (go now) evacuation order for a new, five-acre wildfire on Mount Hood that was first reported late in the morning about three miles northwest of Timothy Lake. As of 4 p.m., the evacuation order does not affect the campgrounds and trails immediately around Timothy Lake, a popular recreational spot about 90 minutes from Portland. But helicopters are scooping large buckets of water from the lake to suppress the fire. Firefighters on the ground also have started an “aggressive initial attack,” the U.S. Forest Service said. The evacuation order affects a two-mile radius around the much smaller Dinger Lake and includes Anvil Lake and the Anvil Lake Trail 724. The order so far only affects remote campsites and hikers. …Dubbed the Anvil fire, it is burning near Forest Road 5820.
The Laguna Fire approximately 25 miles west of Abiquiú has grown to more than 15,000 acres, and prompted evacuation orders more than two weeks after Santa Fe National Forest officials announced their plans to let the fire safely grow instead of suppressing it immediately. On June 30, the Santa Fe National Forest announced that lightning caused the 176-acre fire and that they were going to “actively manage” the blaze, hoping to encourage low-intensity fire to spread across a roughly 13,000 mile area. Noting that the fire was burning in an area that had undergone a National Environmental Policy Act review, and had previously been subject to prescribed burns and thinning, Santa Fe National Forest Deputy Forest Supervisor Anthony Madrid said the fire presented “an opportunity to create a resilient ecosystem that reduces the future risk of catastrophic severe wildfire to communities.”