Trudeau says talk with Trump was ‘colourful’ but trade war will last for foreseeable future. Related headlines include:
- Global News: New duties strain BC’s lumber industry
- CBC News: New Brunswick on edge as duties pile up
- Canadian Press: Kruger delays expansion decision, withholds guidance
- CBC News: Kap Paper pulp & paper business already in a difficult place
- Globe & Mail: Lumber prices hit two-year high as US investigates Canada
- Builder: US National Association of Homebuilders is hyper focused on tariffs
- Globe & Mail: Canadian insurance premiums put pressure on building costs
In related news: Canada requests World Trade Organization consultations; USMCA negotiators launch advocacy group for free trade; how Canada’s construction business can adapt to tariffs; and Canada’s counter tariffs come with procurement complications.
In Forestry news: BC lumber producers still face fibre shortages; Steelworkers urge BC to increase fibre supply; 5,600 fired USDA employees to be rehired; what Trump’s push for more logging means for Oregon and Wyoming; William Nikolakis wins UBC Faculty of Forestry Outstanding Research Award; and Dakota College at Bottineau receives SFI Leadership in Education Award.
Finally, BC’s Evans Lake Forestry Education Society launches its online fundraising auction.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News
Vancouver — The BC Lumber Trade Council (BCLTC) strongly opposes the U.S. Department of Commerce’s preliminary decision to increase anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 20.07%. This unjustified move will negatively impact forestry workers and communities in British Columbia, while further burdening homebuilders, consumers, and the broader construction sector in the United States. “It is deeply disappointing that the U.S. continues to impose these protectionist trade measures” said Kurt Niquidet, President of the BC Lumber Trade Council. “The fact remains that the United States relies on Canadian softwood lumber imports and these duties will harm not only the B.C. forestry industry, but also U.S. consumers, who will bear some of the cost”. Ongoing rebuilding efforts in North Carolina and California, where affordable and reliable lumber is critical to recovery, will be more expensive as a result of this decision.
BEIJING – China suspended on Tuesday the soybean import licenses of three U.S. firms and halted imports of U.S. lumber, stepping up retaliatory action after the United States imposed additional tariffs on Chinese goods. Earlier in the day, China also imposed import levies covering $21 billion worth of U.S. agricultural and food products… Customs said it detected ergot and seed coating agent in imported U.S. soybeans while the suspension of U.S. lumber imports was due to the detection of small worms, aspergillus and other pests. …Beijing’s retaliatory measures were in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose an extra 10% duty on China, effective Tuesday, resulting in a cumulative 20% tariff in response to what the White House considers Chinese inaction over drug flows. …The suspension of U.S. lumber was a direct response to Trump’s move on March 1 to order a trade investigation on imported lumber. 
CHINO, Calif. — Where some just see lumber, Marc Saracco, a sales manager at wholesale distributor Capital Lumber Company, sees the building blocks of new communities. Although with the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump is placing on imports from Mexico and Canada, Saracco said those building blocks are expected to get more expensive. “I estimate that the tariffs from appliances to lumber would cost a homeowner between $30,000 and $40,000 per house,” Saracco said. He said it could exacerbate the current housing shortage. “We as an industry rely heavily on what they produce. About 30% of the lumber that we consume in the United States comes from Canada,” Saracco said. …”You’re talking about $600 million just in the scale of the rebuild in additional tariffs to meet those 15,000 homes that absolutely need to be rebuilt,” Saracco said. …With domestic sawmills closing, Saracco said it would take 10 to 20 years before the U.S. can internally meet lumber demand. 
B.C.’s Ministry of Forests will pump $28 million into 74 wildfire-prevention projects across all eight of the province’s natural resource regions, an investment applauded by NDP MLAs given its nearly $3-million investment in Kootenay communities. Through the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), 43 new and expanded fibre-recovery projects and 31 new and expanded wildfire-mitigation projects will receive the funding, with all 74 projects expected to be complete by end of March. …In the Kootenay natural resource region, some $2,854,000 is supporting seven projects. These include $1.6 million for Nk’Mip Forestry in Castlegar; $593,000 for the Slocan Integral Foresty Cooperative; $396,000 and $46,500 for the Nakusp and Area Community Forest in Nakusp and New Denver, respectively; $101,000 for the Harrop-Procter Community Co-operative; $96,500 for the West Kootenay Woodlot Association in Nelson; and $21,000 for the Creston Valley Forest Corporation.
Rick Maddison, who lost his home in the 2003 Okanagan Mountain wildfire, and Murray Wilson, a retired forester of Vernon have teamed up to create the film B.C. Is Burning, a documentary that focuses on solutions, rather than devastation. “I’m hoping if these ideas in the film are adopted, more communities can be protected from this ongoing threat,” said Maddison. The project began in 2024, and the team is looking to raise funds to help finish the project and distribute the film. …“We’ve spoken with some of the leading people in the field,” said Wilson. “Their insights could change how we manage our forests — and how we protect our communities.” The team is hoping to raise $45,000. Recognizing the film’s importance for B.C.’s future, Kelowna-based Homestead Foods, a local hydroponics and sustainable farming operation, has agreed to match donations up to $22,500 to fund the final stages and the launch of the documentary. To watch the trailer and donate, visit
A new wildfire risk reduction project in Bella Coola is set to benefit the community by improving forest safety and supporting local jobs. North Coast-Haida Gwaii MLA Tamara Davidson says the initiative will help reduce wildfire threats while increasing the fibre supply for the forestry industry, which continues to face challenges from U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber. The Bella Coola Community Forest is a cherished part of the region for both locals and visitors, said Davidson. Projects like this not only help protect against wildfires but also provide valuable community education and create good-paying jobs—critical as we deal with climate change and rising wildfire risks. The Bella Coola Community Forest organization is receiving nearly $149,000 to complete wildfire mitigation work in an area south of Hagensborg and the Bella Coola airport.
President Donald Trump’s plans to use the “God Squad” and emergency provisions of the Endangered Species Act to promote widespread logging on public lands are likely illegal and little more than rhetoric without the force of law, legal experts say. …The timber order’s directives say they must comply with existing law and do not create any enforceable law, making them little more than “a lot of hot air,” said John Leshy, a former Interior solicitor in the Clinton administration in San Francisco. “It’s core could be summed up as ‘study, consider, recommend,’” Leshy said. The caveats that end the order “deprive even those exhortations of any enforceability or effect.” Murray Feldman, a partner at Holland & Hart LLP in Boise, Idaho, said the executive order is an “aspirational statement.” The order doesn’t satisfy the qualifications for an emergency under ESA regulations, the use of which is generally limited to human health risks, he said.
Legislation introduced by the Alabama Forestry Association would significantly worsen the condition of local and state roads and bridges, as well as hinder safety inspections of commercial vehicles. “The legislation is to allow significantly heavier axle weights to be hauled by large trucks — a move that is difficult to comprehend when the truckers already complain of sky-high liability insurance rates and serve as the primary target of advertising by personal injury law firms,” said Alabama Department of Transportation Deputy Director George Conner… “The math is simple: heavier truck axle weights are exceptionally dangerous and destroy roads and bridges; even heavier axle weights will be more dangerous and will destroy roads and bridges even more quickly.” …The Forestry Association’s proposal would increase the legal limit for a single axle from 20,000 pounds to 22,000 pounds while increasing the legal limit for two axles (tandem axles) from 34,000 pounds to 44,000 pounds.
Here are the headlines from the winter newsletter. Click the read more link to see these stories and more. We hope you enjoy reading it and we welcome your feedback.
…”We’re focused on … looking at clean fuel for the power plant, and attracting industries that use clean fuel to produce a value-added product,” said Denis Caron, the president and CEO of the Port of Belledune in New Brunswick. …The Conservation Council of New Brunswick is “first and foremost … happy” the port wants to transition away from fossil fuels to more renewable technologies, said Moe Qureshi, director of climate research and policy. But it’s “not very happy” about the biomass plan for N.B. Power’s Belledune generating station. Burning wood isn’t an efficient way to generate electricity, Qureshi said, and it would be difficult to regrow trees at the rate they are burnt up as wood pellets. …N.B. Power is looking at using black wood pellets at Belledune, Caron said. These are more energy dense and similar to coal, and may not require any refitting or capital spending at the power plant.
A Washington timber company has been fined nearly $115,000 for child labor violations after a 17-year-old worker was injured while working in a logging operation. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries issued the citation against MVR Timber Cutting Inc. following an investigation into the incident. The investigation began in May 2024 when L&I received a report of a workplace injury involving the teen, who fractured his foot while jumping between tree stumps. Upon learning that the minor was working as a member of the company’s logging crew, L&I expanded its investigation. …In January, L&I fined MVR Timber Cutting Inc. $56,000 for allowing the minor to work in logging operations 56 times. State regulations prohibit minors under 18 from working in jobs requiring more extensive personal protective equipment than boots, gloves, and safety glasses. Additionally, state law bans teens from working in hard hat zones, prompting L&I to issue an additional $56,000 fine for the 56 violations of that regulation.
Authorities in Japan have warned that the country’s biggest wildfire in decades is likely to spread, after it damaged dozens of homes and forced more than 1,000 people to flee. Fires continued to rage a week after they broke out in the city of Ofunato, on the north-east coast, with weather officials speculating that this year’s unusually dry winter and strong winds were to blame. As of Monday, the fire had spread through about 2,100 hectares of land, damaged 84 homes and forced 1,200 residents to take refuge in school gymnasiums and other shelters. A further 2,000 are staying with friends or relatives. …More than 2,000 self-defence force [SDF] troops and firefighters have struggled to control the flames as they spread through heavily forested mountainous areas bordering Ofunato, which was among communities destroyed in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.