US President Trump said, “If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had,” he said. On Wednesday, Trump unveiled a 25% tariff on imported vehicles, expanding a global trade war and prompting criticism and threats of retaliation from affected US allies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the move as “bad for businesses, worse for consumers,” while Prime Minister Mark Carney labeled the tariffs a “direct attack” on Canadian workers and said retaliatory measures were being considered. The new levies on cars and light trucks will take effect on April 3, the day after Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs aimed at the countries responsible for the bulk of the US trade deficit.
Related coverage in:
- The Hill: Trump threatens tariffs ‘far larger than currently planned’ on EU, Canada
- MarketWatch: Trump is now trying to block Canada’s efforts to boost Europe ties
- NY Times: Rattled by Trump, America’s Allies Shift to Defense Mode
- CBC News: Fear and uncertainty for Ontario autoworkers after 25% tariff
President Trump’s promised tariffs on softwood lumber risk disrupting the supply chain for something nobody wants to be caught without: toilet paper….While Trump advocates for new tariffs partly to bolster US manufacturing, they may also hit the availability of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp, or NBSK, a key component in making toilet paper and paper towels. NBSK constitutes about 30% of standard U.S. bathroom tissue and half of a typical paper towel, and is currently sourced primarily from Canada, said Brian McClay, chairman of TTOBMA. He added that the U.S. imported about 2 million tons of Canadian NBSK last year, highlighting the longstanding reliance of American paper-goods producers on pulp from their northern neighbour. …“If Canadian pulp mills close because they don’t have the fibre supply, I can’t think of any other option for them — they just can’t switch the recipe around,” he said. The scenario risks reviving painful memories of pandemic-era toilet paper shortages.
Canada could be on the lower end of Trump’s threatened global tariffs next week, the Star has learned. Nothing, however, is guaranteed until Trump decides ahead of his April 2 deadline and no government officials are taking any assurances for granted, sources said. …Canadian sources with knowledge of discussions between the two countries say White House officials have suggested Trump may impose three escalating levels of tariffs on America’s trading partners, with Canada getting hit on the lower end of the scale. …Despite a recent news report the tiered-approach is not on the table, the sources said it aligns with the government’s understanding of what’s about to hit next week. Flavio Volpe, head of the Canadian Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, said, “I wouldn’t take any comfort from that… it may just be that some other countries have been levied a higher universal tariff”.
CALIFORNIA — The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached an $8.1 million settlement in a civil False Claims Act case based on alleged customs violations by defendants Evolutions Flooring, a San Francisco-based importer of wood flooring, and its owners Mengya Lin and Jin Qian. …The complaint shows how DOJ and relators may formulate such cases. Evolutions and its owners were accused of knowingly evading customs duties, including antidumping duties, countervailing duties, and section 301 tariffs, on wood flooring manufactured in the People’s Republic of China. Acting at the direction of its owners, Evolutions allegedly mispresented the country of origin of certain flooring imports – declaring them as Malaysia-origin – to avoid the high duties applicable to China-origin products. Evolutions also allegedly falsely declared the true manufacturer of the imported merchandise. 
VERMONT — Oliver Pierson, Vermont state’s director of forestry, and Katharine Servidio, mapped out the [tarrif] tangle for the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry. As sawmill capacity in the U.S. has retracted, New England’s loggers have looked to Canada to process timber felled on this side of the border. …Vermont imported $52 million in sawmill and wood products from Canada in 2024, according to Pierson. …There is a case for bringing more milling back to America, Pierson said, but “it wouldn’t be for a year or two from now when we’d be able to stand up additional processing capacity.” In the short term, Servidio and Pierson said that they expect that U.S. tariffs on lumber imported from Canada and retaliatory Canadian tariffs on Vermont timber will be debilitating for the logging industry in the state.
Flatbed trucking rates have surged over the past month as steel and lumber shippers hurry to stockpile inventory amid tariff whiplash threatening to roil their supply chains, experts say. A six-week increase in rates has led to the highest flatbed pricing to start a year since 2017, according to DAT, as freight repositioning combines with a typical seasonal pickup in construction and other industries. “Demand usually picks up in March and April as planti ng, building, construction, machinery imports, and nursery seasons gear up,” said DAT Principal Analyst Dean Croke. “…Last week, the average flatbed spot rate went up 4 cents to $2.13 per mile compared to the previous week. Meanwhile, the load-to-truck ratio for flatbed went up to 46.92 from 41.12 loads per truck.Shippers have pulled forward cargo imports such as machinery, lumber, metals and oversized flatbed freight to mitigate tariff uncertainty. 
The ongoing trade spat between the U.S. and Canada is impacting BC’s construction sector in ways that could bring short-term gain and long-term pain. At first, there could be an oversupply of lumber if Canadian softwood is taken out of the U.S. equation, resulting in lower costs for B.C. builders and developers, said Padraic Kelly, Vancouver-based director with BTY Group. But costs would later rise significantly, he said. “The medium- and long-term pain would be that if the American market is choked out, mills would close, supply would be constrained and costs would ultimately go up,” Kelly said. The total levy on Canadian softwood lumber going into the U.S. could total between 45% and 55%, taking into account anti-dumping measures introduced by the Biden administration and scheduled to increase this August. Other big-ticket impacts to B.C. construction could be the mechanical and electrical divisions within construction budgets, he said.
The Province of Ontario says it’s prepared for the fast-approaching 2025 wildland fire season. The new season starts on April 1, and preparations have included filling more than 100 new, permanent positions to help support forest fire fighting operations, said Chris Marchand, fire information officer with Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES). …Exactly how busy this season will be remains unknown, Marchand said, as it’s very difficult to predict how intense a fire season will be. …Marchand said the previous winter saw “somewhat normal” snowfall patterns across Ontario. …Marchand noted, however, that the 2024 fire season was slower than usual — 480 fires were reported, down from the 10-year, seasonal average of 700 fires. The Province of Ontario said it partnered with the federal government last year to invest $64 million in the provincial wil
The world is running out of time to halt deforestation. Yet instead of stepping up, the US is dismantling forest protections and undermining global progress – highlighting the dangers of global forest policy that fails to hold the wealthiest, most powerful countries accountable. …But the latest actions by the US highlight just how dangerous and unbalanced this paradigm is. …Under the pretense of national security, Trump’s orders aim to gut environmental safeguards and fast-track industrial clearcutting in some of the US’s most precious and climate-critical forests. …Meanwhile, as Europe strengthens forest accountability, US state officials are pushing to exempt the country from new deforestation protections.. These officials, echoing industry talking points, are urging the EU to exclude US wood products from a law requiring due diligence to prevent imports or exports tied to deforestation or forest degradation. Their argument? That the US doesn’t need oversight.
Prolonged droughts, wildfires and water shortages. Torrential downpours that overwhelm dams and cause catastrophic flooding. Around the globe, rising temperatures stoked by climate change are increasing the odds of both severe drought and heavier precipitation that wreak havoc on people and the environment. Rainfall can disappear for years only to return with a vengeance, as it did in California in 2023, with record-setting rain and snowfall. That led to heavy vegetation growth that provided fuel for the devastating January wildfires in Los Angeles after drought returned. But how can global warming cause both drier and wetter extremes? Here’s what experts say. It’s all about the water cycle. Water constantly moves between the Earth and its atmosphere. But that system — called the hydrological cycle — is speeding up as global temperatures get hotter, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal and gas.