The federal government’s aid package for the Canadian softwood lumber industry is expected to go before cabinet Tuesday for final approval.
Also, after newly appointed US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said this week that he hoped the issue could be resolved before the formal start of negotiations on the trilateral NAFTA trade agreement, according to the TheStreet Thursday.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told legislators on Wednesday that “the US, when it comes to softwood lumber, has made no offers that any Canadian would consider to be acceptable”.
Canada-US Softwood Lumber Dispute and NAFTA
Newly-appointed US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Wednesday he hoped the softwood lumber issue would be solved before the formal start of negotiations on the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement this August.
“It’s hard to imagine a deal being done that soon,” said a source to Rueters Thursday, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
CANADA SOFTWOOD LUMBER INDUSTRY AID PACKAGE
The federal government’s aid package for Canada’s softwood lumber industry is expected to go before cabinet Tuesday for final approval.
Sources told CBC News May 15 the package will contain a “substantial” envelope of money — just under a billion dollars — to help the sector struggling to cope with new tariffs recently imposed by the US Department of Commerce.
Sources, speaking to CBC on a not for attribution basis because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the aid package will likely include money for employment insurance benefits for workers in affected regions.
It will also contain funds to help companies innovate, including transitioning into other value-added products, rather than simply exporting primary lumber.
The final package could yet change based on input from members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.
If cabinet approves the aid package, it’s still unclear when the details will be made public.
LAYOFFS ALREADY ANNOUNCED
Hundreds of Quebec forestry workers are experiencing the first sour tastes from the softwood lumber battle with the United States as they prepare for the start of layoffs, according to Globe and Mail also May 15.
Starting Monday, Resolute Forest Products is cutting shifts at seven sawmills and delaying the start of forest operations that will affect 1,282 workers.
Workers were surprised by the speed with which Resolute moved to cut costs — especially since the company’s preliminary duties are below the 20 per cent Canadian average with no retroactivity, said Daniel Leblond, president of the Unifor local at the Dolbeau-Mistassini, QC, sawmill.
Resolute said the immediate impact on the industry is largely because of volatility in market pricing thanks to the duties, and the fact that some US customers had built up some supply in anticipation of the duties.
EXPERT OPINION ANALYSIS:
It’s important to remember too that final determinations do not signal an end to the softwood lumber issue; they’re just another step along the road of managed trade, wrote Peter Woodbridge in Business in Vancouver Thursday. The US and Canada have been without an agreement on lumber for a year and a half. Interests are divided: Canada badly wants a long-term deal; the Americans see their hand strengthening – and are in no hurry to settle.
Not just that, but the Canadian industry’s east-west “divide” has a history of discord. It threatens a northern accord that might be the basis of an early agreement on managed trade in lumber – before it is pushed aside by a possible NAFTA termination decision by the US At minimum, tough renegotiations.
– Peter Woodbridge is president of global forest products research and consulting firm Woodbridge Associates Inc.