Trump’s tariffs could endanger the struggling US trucking industry and derail railway’s planned growth. In other Business news: a Vancouver Island First Nation takes BC to court over title claim; 2024 was a positive year for Arkansas’ forest industry; and the US Endowment elects two new directors. In Market news: high insurance costs hamper mass timber; US building material prices increased in November; Canada’s building permits fell in October; and Ontario’s housing starts are expected to decline.
In Forestry/Climate news: Canada wants to slash its emissions in half by 2035; Ontario First Nations will convert wood waste into green fuel; an Australian study on the potential to lower carbon emissions with wood products; FSC extends its blockage on Chinese plywood mill; and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell sees the forest for the trees.
Finally, CWC announced the recipients of the 2024 Catherine Lalonde Memorial Scholarships.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
LOS ANGELES — President-elect Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on top trade partners China, Mexico and Canada would deal a blow to the $1.7 trillion U.S. transportation industry and worsen a nearly three-year trucking recession, sector experts said. The industry that moves everything Americans make and buy is considered an economic bellwether, and will be among the first to signal any unintended consequences of trade policies that Trump says will help, not hurt, U.S. businesses. …Virtually every transportation company operating in the United States is exposed to tariff-related revenue downturns. …Trump’s new tariffs on Mexico and Canada, in particular, would hit one of the rare growth areas for trucking. The value of cargo that moves between those countries and the U.S. – which includes finished vehicles, auto parts and avocados from Mexico as well as steel and lumber from Canada – reached $88.5 billion in September 2024, up 7.7% from the year-earlier.
ARKANSAS — News about lumber mill shutdowns is always disheartening, and South Arkansas has had its share of that in 2024. West Frasier mothballed its Huttig mill this year, putting 140 people out of work. AHT Products closed its flooring mill in Warren unexpectedly, putting another 130 out of a job. Fortunately, there’s no lack of good news in the timber industry. PotlatchDeltic brought its $131 million Waldo sawmill upgrade online. Teal Jones Group is staffing up its new $110 million mill in Plain Dealing, LA, and will employ 125. Georgia-Pacific said it will expand toilet tissue production in Crossett, creating 50 jobs in a $90 million expansion. Canfor has completed the purchase of Domtar’s former El Dorado mill and about $50 million worth of improvements have been made. Finally, Weyerhaeuser announced a $500 million facility near Monticello that will employ about 200 workers. …That’s roughly $800 million and almost 400 new mill jobs coming online. This is positive local economic news going into 2025.
ONTARIO — Housing starts over the next few years will likely weaken and the already dire supply shortage could get even worse, warns a new report prepared for the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON). Further, employment in new residential construction has peaked and will likely keep declining for the next several years at least. Entitled Housing Market Outlooks in Ontario, the report from economic research firm Will Dunning Inc. concludes that new housing starts will continue to decline “well into 2025, followed by a slow recovery of the economy and housing activity during 2026 to 2028. By the end of 2028, conditions will not have fully recovered.” Richard Lyall, RESCON president, described the findings as “particularly worrisome for builders as they point to a weakening residential construction market at the very time we need to build more housing.
FSC has extended the blockage period of a Chinese bamboo plywood manufacturer by 1.5 years for repeatedly making false claims on large volumes of bamboo plywood. Despite being blocked by FSC in 2022 for making false claims, FSC found evidence that the company recertified itself under a different name. The company did not disclose its certification history to the new certification body and continued to make false claims on its products despite being blocked by FSC. …FSC considers the actions and intentions of Anji Double Tiger (and Anji Shuanghu) to be a serious threat to the integrity of the FSC system. Thus, in accordance with FSC’s Advice Note 18, FSC has blocked the company till July 2027. FSC has evidence of how this company, operating under its two names, repeatedly made false claims. 
Scrap wood fibre in the Rainy River district could get a new life, thanks to a partnership working towards a green fuel production facility. Ten First Nations in the Rainy River District near Fort Frances have joined forces to create ground-breaking Wanagekong-Biiwega’iganan Clean Energy Corporation (WBCEC). In partnership with Highbury Energy Inc., a Vancouver-based clean energy innovator, the initiative aims to transform wood waste—including bark, sawdust, and logging debris—into low-carbon transportation fuels. …The corporation is currently engaging with industry stakeholders such as Boundary Waters Forest Management Corporation, West Fraser OSB, Manitou Forest Products, Nickel Lake Lumber, and Resolute Forest Products (Sapawe Sawmill) to secure local wood waste as feedstock for a proposed biorefinery in Fort Frances. …This initiative aligns with similar projects Highbury Energy is involved in, including one in British Columbia to replace natural gas with a clean renewable fuel gas in a pulp mill lime-kiln.