The United States and Canada have one of the largest bilateral trade relationships in the world, including highly integrated energy and automotive markets. Since 1989, U.S.-Canada trade has been governed by the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, then by the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and now by the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Since 2025, U.S.-Canada trade tensions have increased following the imposition of U.S. tariffs on key Canadian exports. The two countries, along with Mexico, also are scheduled to engage in a review of USMCA in July 2026. …The United States and Canada have had a decades-long dispute over trade in softwood lumber. The last agreement… expired in October 2015. Since the agreement’s expiration, the United States has imposed antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on imports of Canadian softwood lumber. Canada has challenged the duties through NAFTA, USMCA, the WTO, and the U.S. Court of International Trade..
The BC Supreme Court’s decision in 
TORONTO — Canadian businesses hit by targeted U.S. tariffs are struggling to respond as the trade war drags into its second year. …industries like metal production, lumber and automobiles continue to face steep duties more than a year after U.S. President Donald Trump upended the global status quo. Companies have cut staff, pulled back on production and pushed for government action as the heavy duties continue to shake the crucial and long-standing trade relationship with the U.S. …“Because of the way that these tariffs are imposed … five to six key manufacturing subsectors are really, really hurting versus the rest of the economy”, said Claire Fan, senior economist at RBC. …The softwood lumber industry was hit by harsh duties back in 2017, which Trump has since added to, resulting in production down over 25 per cent since the first round, she noted. The result is 22 mills closed since 2022 and another 50 with reduced operations…
The B.C. government says it’s making legislative changes to bolster access to wood fibre, including timber damaged by wildfires, insects and windstorms. The Forests Ministry says the changes will potentially increase the supply of fibre by as much as 17,700 truckloads and allow B.C. Timber Sales to auction off contracts for forestry thinning, wildfire risk reduction and damaged timber salvage. A statement from the ministry says these “fibre-generating activities” will be available to forestry contractors and value-added mills. …B.C.’s forestry industry has been facing a shortage of fibre as the Wood Pellet Association of Canada said in 2025 that the fibre supply has fallen more than 40 per cent since 2018… Kurt Niquidet with B.C. Council of Forest Industries said in 2024 that local and global demand for wood products to build more affordable housing is growing, but the forestry industry is also facing a “critical shortage” of timber for B.C. mills.
The BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) Annual Convention is just days away, with registration closing April 2 for the April 8–10 event at the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver.
The Council of Forest Industries 2026 conventions welcomes veteran strategist 
Alberta’s government has tabled legislation to ease regulations and barriers to more easily enable the sale of some goods from other provinces. It’s part of a commitment Alberta made with its provincial and federal counterparts in signing an interprovincial free trade pact in November. That trade accord, which is supposed to take effect this summer, would see provinces recognize each other’s regulations for most consumer and capital products to avoid duplicative inspections and requirements. …Government officials told reporters before the bill was tabled that manufacturers in industries such as oil and gas, lumber and logging and fertilizer producers will likely see the most positive impact once the pact takes effect.
B.C.’s latest budget confirmed: One of the province’s foundational industries has lost more than half its public revenue base in a single economic cycle. Forestry revenues are projected at $521 million, down from $1.3 billion just a few years ago. …It is a structural failure. For decades, Canada built its forest economy around a single export market and a narrow set of commodity products. That strategy has now been exposed as dangerously fragile. …The issue is not a lack of fibre, skills, infrastructure or industrial heritage. …The issue is the absence of investment-grade data and intelligence that allow global firms to move quickly from site selection to financing and construction. …Canada already has a strong global investment attraction network through Invest in Canada and the trade commissioner service… What is missing is nationally consistent, standardized data sets on forest biomass availability, infrastructure capacity, workforce readiness, and permitting pathways that allow those teams to respond immediately when firms begin evaluating locations.
With just 13 days to go, anticipation is building for the 
Acadian Timber, one of Canada’s largest forest landowners, wants to close the performance gap between New Brunswick and its business in Maine, a goal its new interim CEO says is achievable despite labour and market challenges. …Malcolm Cockwell, who was named interim boss last month, said, “There are a lot of strong companies here that are investing in their facilities and running them pretty consistently even in challenging markets. Maine is a little bit more hit-and-miss with facilities not being as consistent with their operating schedule and a number of facilities dropping out over the last couple of years.” Acadian has just under 1 million hectares of land under management across New Brunswick and northeastern Maine, with approximately 313,000 hectares of freehold timberlands – privately owned forest land – in New Brunswick and 121,000 in Maine. …One way to make that happen in Maine is to improve Acadian Timber’s contractor base.
US companies stung by President Trump’s emergency tariffs had hoped for relief when the US Supreme Court ruled in their favor. But settling on a remedy – namely, rebate checks from the government – may be an even bigger headache. Fresh wrinkles are prompting businesses to take different routes as they try to recoup money, with many opting to sue to improve their odds. These lawsuits are also underscoring the complex ways that tariffs worked their way through corporate accounting. In some cases, their cost was a clear line item; in others, the impact was muddier – say, through changed supply lines or selective increases in retail pricing. And some have backed off from a legal fight altogether and sold their refund rights to investment firms, often at a deep discount, figuring that getting something is better than risk getting nothing. …Consider the different approaches taken by FedEx and the retail chain Costco.
Arizona — Efforts to scale up forest thinning across northern Arizona are intensifying, as local officials, industry representatives and environmental groups warn that time is running short to reduce wildfire risk and protect critical watersheds. “Everybody is aware now that there is a biomass issue, but very, very, very few people have any real knowledge of the solution,” Eastern Arizona Counties Organization Executive Director Pascal Berlioux said during a recent Natural Resources Working Group meeting. A broad coalition is advocating for construction of a second biomass-burning power plant, arguing it is essential to prevent the collapse of the region’s wood products industry. Without that industry, leaders say, large-scale thinning efforts could stall, increasing the likelihood of severe wildfires threatening forest communities. 
WASHINGTON STATE– Current and former employees are suing Western Forest Products’ Vancouver operation, alleging the company failed to give employees breaks and pay wages owed. …Western manufactures lumber at its Fruit Valley location and formerly operated a Columbia Vista sawmill that closed after a fire last year. …The group of current and former employees also allege Western Forest Products didn’t keep accurate payroll records. The complaint states about 40 employees could have been impacted by the alleged practices. Babita Khunkhun, spokesperson for Western Forest Products, said “While we cannot comment on the specifics of the allegations at this time, we take all employee concerns seriously,” Khunkhun said. The company is reviewing the lawsuit and will respond through the appropriate legal process, she added. Western Forest Products recently unveiled plans to expand its Fruit Valley manufacturing operation.
PENSACOLA, Florida — West Fraser is requesting a tax break from Escambia County as the lumber company prepares for a planned expansion at its McDavid sawmill. Escambia County staff prepared a draft ordinance proposing the Canadian-based lumber company receive a 70% ad valorem tax exemption for a period of five years. …West Fraser applied for an EDATE for the assessed value of certain improvements. If the exemption is granted… over the next five years, the estimate of the taxable value lost to the county if the exemption is granted is $70,252,000 improvements to real property. In 2023, the board adopted a resolution supporting West Fraser’s expansion and agreed to consider the lumber company’s EDATE application when it was submitted. The county is scheduled to vote March 26 at its board meeting on scheduling a public hearing to consider establishing an EDATE for West Fraser. 
At the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference, US Department of Agriculture Administrator J.R. Claeys announced the USDA is guaranteeing $115.2 million across eight states (
Highly exposed to energy costs, today’s unpredictable global trade politics and the crisis in the Middle East are impacting the pulp and paper industry in many ways. These developments will certainly be reflected at Pulp & Beyond 2026, the leading forest-based bioeconomy event in Northern Europe, taking place on 15–16 April 2026 at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre in Helsinki, Finland. However, the main theme of this year’s event—focusing on the role of artificial intelligence in process industries, innovation within the forest sector, and the future of the bioeconomy—was defined before the Middle East war broke out, along with the subsequent oil and gas crisis, turbulence in global stock markets, and the growing risk of an unprecedented global recession. 
Rising bunker prices are now hitting Swedish sawmill exporters on every trade lane, with the Strait of Hormuz closure driving up costs across routes and cutting off Middle East volumes, with no end in sight. That is according to Setra Group’s Olle Berg, Executive Vice President of market and business development at one of Sweden’s largest processors, who exports sawn timber, glulam, CLT, and structural components to Europe, North America, Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. And according to Berg, the damage was coming through on two fronts – one from high oil prices now feeding into bunker costs regardless of destination, and the other from direct shipments to the Middle East, with container prices, surcharges and risk premiums climbing exponentially. “For Swedish sawmills, the volumes to the area are relatively small — but not insignificant,” Berg told a Timber Exchange webinar focused on the impact of the conflict on global sawmilling.