Advocacy in Action: Defending Canadian Lumber & Fighting Misinformation
Advocacy Bulletin – March 27, 2025
As we continue to navigate this period of uncertainty and the issues this industry faces, we are providing a brief update on some of the meetings we have had to help develop our strategy during the current US administration.
The amount of misinformation circulating has been a challenge to overcome. We recently met with various economists along with James Rajotte, Special Advisor to the Alberta Premier on United States Relations, and his team in Washington, and Global Affairs Softwood Lumber Division to get their insights and perspective on the issue and learn how we can support their efforts and, in turn, our membership and partners.
As we are all aware, Canadian lumber is taking a beating in the media, and one of the key reasons behind that is the power of the US Lumber Coalition (USLC). It is an alliance of 19 private timberland owners (all unnamed on their website) who are working to protect their self-interests which are not aligned with the bulk of the industry, including end users. The data they use to back up their claims are either old charts from the pandemic days or snippets of data taken out of context to support their narrative rather than present the facts in context. They have also been the largest roadblock to getting a new Softwood Lumber Agreement in place and are why the Canadian industry is currently facing 14.4% duties on lumber products exported to the US. As a result of their campaigning, this duty will double to 30% in August. The proposed 25% tariff on top of the duties will be crippling. We have already seen layoffs in Canadian steel and aluminum and will begin to see this in lumber as well.
The NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) has data to show how tariffs will inflate costs in the US and has recently been another victim of the USLC’s rhetoric, with USLC claiming that NAHB is attacking US trade and pushing a “Canada-First” agenda. In the same piece, Canada was once again accused of subsidizing lumber to unfairly flood the US market, which has been disputed 4 times with the World Trade Organization, confirming there is no sufficient evidence Canadian producers are heavily subsidized.
With input from our members, including mills and remanufacturers, we are developing a strategy to advocate for our industry, combat misinformation and refute USLC’s major claims. There are many other organizations and partners who are working behind the scenes to negotiate for the industry, but we have decided to adopt a public-facing strategy, taking on some risk on behalf of those unable to be vocal without damaging key relationships. More details to come, and we encourage you to tune into the podcasts launching next week.
If you would like to discuss this issue, or have specific areas of concern, please contact Liz at lkovach@supplybuild.ca or 204-770-2416.
To further support our membership, we have launched a Buy Local campaign. In a recent podcast with Don Humphrey, it was highlighted that demand for product will be one of the key issues for retail business and we need to ensure consumers are aware of local options outside of US-owned big box stores.
While Canadians may think they do not have a voice in the current climate, they do have a choice when it comes to where they spend their money. The Globe and Mail recently highlighted that if every Canadian household redirected $25 per week from foreign products to Canadian ones, it would boost Canadian GDP by 0.7% and create 60,000 jobs. Full article available here.
To support Canadians and our members, all retail members in good standing have been added to our Buy Local page which we’ve asked members to share. We promoted the campaign on CJOB (local Winnipeg radio) and will continue to share it with media and through social campaigns. The page link is available at
Buy Local
Liz Kovach
President
Supply-Build Canada