JOC Staff | Feb 26, 2013 4:40PM EST
The U.S. Lumber Coalition is concerned by British Columbia’s recent log export policy changes, particularly a 20 percent increase in the “fee in lieu of domestic manufacturing” applied to many log exports that will take effect on March 1.
These measures to tighten log export restrictions on the British Columbia coast will allow British Columbia lumber producers to pay even less for their log inputs, the organization said.
“In effect, BC has increased the implicit subsidy from log export restrictions for BC coast lumber mills,” said Luke Brochu, chairman of the coalition and president of Pleasant River Lumber Company in Maine, in a written statement. “This gives BC coast lumber mills a greater advantage in the U.S. market, at the expense of U.S. mills that pay full market price for their inputs.”
The coalition has called on the U.S. government to defend U.S. rights under the 2006 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement.
