Softwood trade war could last years
Posted November 27, 2016 7:25 am.
Last Updated November 27, 2016 11:45 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – As the US lumber lobby calls for levies on Canadian softwood, a local academic warns this trade war could go on for months or even years.
It’s unclear how long this latest feud will go on, says Harry Nelson, an associate professor with UBC’s faculty of forestry.
But he says if we look at previous disputes, this could be a very long drawn out process, with potential job losses as a result.
“If you look at what led to the last softwood lumber dispute, some of the cases were filed in 2001, 2002, and then we started to have some resolution to those over the next two or three years,” says Nelson.
Nelson says even if agreement can be made on some aspects, other problems can spring up.
“Because the problem is one dispute may be resolved, but then you may launch another one,” says Nelson. “That was something we saw even under the Softwood Lumber Agreement. We had a series of ongoing disputes in that as well.”
As for what sort of a levy we could see imposed on Canadian wood, Nelson says he wouldn’t be surprised if it was in the range of 40 per cent.
