The European Union plans to keep its climate goals but loosen rules to bolster economic growth. In related news: Canada concedes middle ground is collapsing on climate action. In related news: BC defends shíshálh First Nation deal; Hamilton, Ontario is beset by the hemlock woolly adelgid; and forest fires drive up Ukraine war emissions.
In Business news: Irving Paper lay-offs stir pushback by community and union workers; Trump risks supply chain disruption with Chinese shipping levies; Doman’s Arkansas fire cost $2 million; and a fire ravages a Janesville, NY pallet plant. On the market front: Home Depot says high mortgage rates may be the new normal; lumber surges on tariff concerns; and which states are most at risk if Canada is targeted.
Finally, confusion reigns over Trump’s tariff order; and what it could mean for Canadian forest products.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News
Yesterday, we featured an op-ed by political risk management expert Robert McKellar on how Donald Trump’s re-election is changing the political risk landscape for the Canadian forest sector. While U.S. trade disputes are not new, the unpredictability of Trump’s approach to trade policy creates new challenges that Canadian exporters must assess and manage. McKellar presents a structured way to evaluate these risks using the devil’s advocacy approach, a method that considers both worst- and best-case scenarios to develop a balanced assessment. Trump has proposed three different types of tariffs—bi-national, product-specific, and reciprocal—which, if applied together, could significantly impact the sector. By examining multiple possibilities, McKellar provides companies with a way to better prepare for potential disruptions rather than reacting in crisis mode. And as today’s 
Reports that Canada and Mexico are set to be slapped with U.S. tariffs next week may be premature. That’s the latest word from the Trump administration. The White House has clarified that North America-wide tariffs are not a done deal, as many news headlines suggested following remarks Monday Trump. …It wasn’t totally clear which tariffs Trump was referring to. The president has threatened multiple trade actions, for multiple reasons. For Canada, the ones paused until March 4 represent the gravest threat. …CBC News asked the White House on Tuesday for clarification. The White House reply… A plan for retaliatory tariffs on various countries is moving ahead as scheduled. …So, what about that bigger tariff, currently paused until March 4? The White House told CBC News that it’s still to be determined, “pending negotiations” with Canada and Mexico.
The Trump administration has opened a broad new front in its global trade conflict, proposing to affix levies reaching $1.5 million on Chinese-made ships arriving at American ports. Such fees would apply even on vessels made elsewhere — an approach that risks increasing costs on raw materials to factory goods. …It is engineered to discourage reliance on Chinese vessels in supplying Americans with products, while aiming to spur the revival of a domestic shipbuilding industry after a half-century of veritable dormancy. …The proposal would isolate China while diminishing American reliance on its industry. …The plan was the result of an investigation, started during the Biden administration, into the dominance of the Chinese shipping industry, in response to a petition filed by labor unions. Almost one-fifth of container vessels arriving at American ports are made in China. [to access the full story a NY Times subscription is required]
Lumber futures surpassed $630 per thousand board feet in February, the highest since October 2022, amid tariff concerns and tightening supply. U.S. President Trump reaffirmed Monday that tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports remain “on time and on schedule,” despite both nations’ efforts to bolster border security and curb fentanyl flows ahead of the March 4th deadline. The National Association of Home Builders warned that higher tariffs on lumber and gypsum could push prices up 40%, worsening affordability and slowing the housing market’s recovery. Meanwhile, U.S. building permits edged up 0.1%, signaling stability, while housing starts plunged 9.8%, pointing to near-term weakness. 
If the Trump administration follows through, the impact on economies across the U.S. will be extensive, and it will vary greatly from state to state. …CNBC looked at the exposure of all 50 states on a country-by-country basis. …The 10 states that have the highest percentage of imports from Canada are: Montana (92%), Maine (69.4%), Vermont (68%), North Dakota (64%), Wyoming (55%), Oklahoma (51%), West Virginia (44%), South Dakota (41%), Minnesota (38%), and Colorado (31%). Energy was the top-dollar import from Canada for all states. The amount of oil imported from Canada is staggering. For example, the value of the oil that Montana imports from Canada — $4.9 billion — is more than 10 times the value of the state’s next biggest import. U.S. states facing exports retaliatory risk. …Looking at the top 10 states that export to Canada, North Dakota topped the list (82%), followed by Maine (49%), Montana (46%), South Dakota (44%), Michigan (43%), Ohio (39%), West Virginia (38%), Idaho (37%), Missouri (37%), and Vermont (34%).
Home Depot’s CFO said people are “moving on” from today’s high mortgage rates and have started investing more in their homes. The home improvement company reported strong fourth-quarter results, although CEO Ted Decker said consumers are still reluctant to make larger investments like a kitchen remodel. Experts say people may start to view today’s mortgage rates as normal, especially when compared to historic rates. …“Housing is still frozen by mortgage rates,” Richard McPhail, said. Yet McPhail said Home Depot, which reported strong Q4 results Tuesday, has seen sales growth in nearly 80% of its U.S. geographic regions. …For Q4, 2024, Home Depot saw a 14.1% year-over-year increase in sales, which “exceeded our expectations,” Ted Decker CEO, said. …“We saw greater engagement in home improvement spend, despite ongoing pressure on large remodeling projects,” Decker said
Recently there has been discussion about upcoming forest harvesting plans on Tree Farm Licence 47 on Quadra Island. This area is within the unceded and core territory of the We Wai Kai Nation, who approves all forest management activities on the TFL. The Nation and Mosaic Forest Management have worked closely to develop a constructive relationship based on the recognition that as title holder, We Wai Kai has the right to ensure that resources on Quadra Island are being managed consistent with their conservation values and their right to benefit economically from resource extraction on their title lands. The Nation’s logging company, Way Key, is conducting all harvesting on the TFL on Quadra. Both We Wai Kai and Mosaic recognize there is interest in future harvesting activities. We also know that Islanders want a map that identifies where the old growth is (as part of a spatially explicit strategy) before harvesting occurs. 
…On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Missoula federal district judge Donald Molloy’s rulings on a few counts that will require the Kootenai National Forest to keep the Black Ram logging project on hold for a while longer. The appeals court upheld rulings on two of four claims that the U.S. Forest Service challenged, so the agency must redo parts of its project analysis. First, the justices agreed that the Forest Service failed to comply with Kootenai Forest Plan because the agency didn’t show whether or how it included unauthorized roads in its road density calculations. …Second, the justices agreed that the Forest Service didn’t take “a hard look,” as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, at unauthorized road use and its effects. The justices pointed at the agency’s unsupported claims of sporadic use of roads and prompt barrier repair as proof.
Polarization is gripping the country and the centre isn’t holding, Environment and Climate Change Canada found when setting the country’s latest emissions reduction target. The department solicited feedback… to determine what Canada’s internationally binding 2035 pollution reduction obligations should be. …The results found that overcoming polarization is a major hurdle to implementing aggressive emissions reductions that climate scientists say is required to avoid catastrophic warming. About two-thirds of Canadians who participated support stronger measures to address climate change. “There was little middle ground, and very few people were satisfied with the status quo,” according to the findings. …When asked if the federal government is doing enough to fight climate change, 47% believe Canada needs to do more, compared to 36% that feel existing measures go too far. …Polarization is gripping the country and the centre isn’t holding, Environment and Climate Change Canada found when setting the country’s latest emissions reduction target.
NEW YORK — Chestnut Carbon, a leading developer of nature-based carbon removal solutions, announced today that they have completed the first issuance and sale of Improved Forest Management (IFM) credits sourced from their conservation membership program branded as Forest Carbon Works. The issuance of more than 64,000 credits, or tons of carbon removal, were sold to multiple corporate buyers, including JPMorganChase. These transactions totaled $2.2 million. Chestnut’s U.S.-based IFM membership program, Forest Carbon Works, provides an opportunity for private forest owners to access income-generating carbon markets while preserving the integrity and legacy of their land. The program includes landowners in 36 states with more than 150,000 acres enrolled as of February 2025. These carbon removal credits are certified through Verra on the voluntary carbon market (VCM) and undergo rigorous third-party audits..webp_Cropped_(1)_0.png)
A B.C. company has been fined just under $9,000 for the death of a worker. A WorkSafeBC penalty summary posted online says Crescent Bay Construction Ltd. was fined $8,995.26 on Jan. 23 for the incident at a worksite in Beaton, located south of Revelstoke on the shores of Upper Arrow Lake. “This firm was performing maintenance work on a bridge deck on a forest service road,” said the penalty summary. “WorkSafeBC attended the site after a worker was struck by a tree that fell from a cliff face above the work area. The worker sustained fatal injuries.” WorkSafeBC says their investigation determined “the firm did not adequately identify the hazard of dangerous trees or assess the risks they presented to workers.” The company also failed to “conduct a dangerous tree assessment by a qualified person before work began and failed to ensure the health and safety of all workers at the worksite, both high-risk violations.”