Additional tariffs on B.C. lumber are ‘misguided and unnecessary’

B.C.’s lumber industry criticizes U.S. President Trump’s announcement to increase the duties on Canadian lumber.

The BC Lumber Trade Council (BCLTC) called the additional increase “misguided and unnecessary.”

“It’s extremely disappointing,” said the BCLTC President Kurt Niquidet in an interview with The Leader Spirit.

Trump imposed an additional tariff of 10 per cent on imported softwood lumber starting Oct. 14, with the rate applied to kitchen cabinets and vanities set to jump to 50 per cent on January 1, 2026.

This new levy means that Canadian softwood lumber entering the U.S. will see total import taxes exceeding 45 per cent.

The U.S. announced the tariffs under its Trade Expansion Act, allowing the imposition of tariffs on the basis of national security.

“That is going to be extremely impactful for the sector, and the whole basis behind the tariff is really extremely disappointing that to somehow link software lumber imports to a threat to national security, we find that really, frankly, absurd,” he added.

Niquidet says the United States relies on lumber from B.C. as its domestic supply is not enough.

“We have been filling the supply gap as the U.S. cannot fill all its domestic demand, and so we have been supplying high-quality lumber for quite some time. There are long-standing relationships with customers in the U.S., and so there’s just no way that we’re a threat to national security.”

Beyond questioning the threat to national security, Niquidet argues that the tariffs will increase costs south of the border.

“But it is also going to impact the U.S. It’s going to drive up their lumber costs, which is a key input into building homes in the U.S. and affect the affordability of housing in the U.S. It’s not good news on both sides of the border.”

Increased government procurement considered

Derek Nighbor, CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), says the justification for these tariffs under the guise of national security is absurd and agrees with Niquidet that both sides will suffer.

“This is bad for workers in Canada and the forest sector. This is bad for businesses. This is bad for contractors, communities, and businesses. But it’s also bad for America, and we are seeing signs of a softening economy in the United States, and that’s one of the things we’re trying to make the case to Americans.”

Nighbor says that various government measures are already being considered, including increased government procurement of Canadian wood.

“How can we, through government procurement, use more Canadian wood in our government buildings and in new construction? How do we diversify and find new markets and do more in Japan and South Korea,” Nighbor said in an interview with 1130 NewsRadio.

Long-term solutions are being discussed as well, such as diversifying trade to Asia.

However, the best near-term solution is negotiating a deal that will work for Canada, Nighbor says.

B.C. lumber faces higher duties than Russian lumber

In the meantime, Premier David Eby says the softwood lumber industry is “under direct attack” as it is “completely absurd” that softwood lumber exports from B.C. to the U.S. face higher duties than the same product from Russia.

Russia’s lumber industry was not affected by Trump’s latest tariff increase, although it is still subject to various Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says the U.S. must decide whether it wants to do business with B.C. or with Russia, whose leader, Vladimir Putin, has been courted by Trump with promises of various resource deals.

Additionally, Parmar criticized the language around national security and tariffs as “ludicrous.”

Eby says the provincial government is working with the federal government to distribute $1.2 billion in financial assistance for Canadian lumber producers, first announced in August, while advocating for a resolution of the softwood lumber dispute as part of a broader trade agreement with the U.S.

Parmar says the government is also working to diversify exports to India, Japan, and South Korea.

Nearly $10 billion worth of Canadian exports in targeted lumber, furniture, and related goods to the U.S. will be affected by the new tariffs.

With files from The Canadian Press and Anthony Atanasov.