Roger Melanson and Rick Doucet

The New Brunswick government will hire an expert firm to review the province’s forestry market as part of its ongoing fight against softwood anti-dumping duties announced by the U.S. Commerce Department earlier this month. The province maintains the U.S. duties are “unfair trade actions” against the New Brunswick softwood lumber industry and Thursday announced the steps it’s taking to protect the “very valued” industry that employs thousands. … The measures, developed in consultation with stakeholders, are designed to “manage the unfair pressure on the industry while working towards a positive resolution,” said Energy and Resource Development Minister Rick Doucet. ​”We stand by our New Brunswick lumber producers and the local communities who rely on this important sector,” Doucet said during a news conference held at the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Complex in Fredericton.