Since Trump took workplace 4 weeks in the past, St-Gelais has seen a drop of about 25 per cent in orders from Canada and the US
Article content material
OTTAWA — Steeve St-Gelais listened nervously on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump listed industries he would possibly goal for tariffs.
Article content material
Article content material
It seems that automobiles, prescription drugs and semiconductor chips have been on the president’s thoughts that day and St-Gelais might breathe once more as a result of the phrases “lumber” or “forest” didn’t come up.
“Will he get up tomorrow morning and wish to say, ‘Properly, we’re going to do one thing particularly for wooden’,” he questioned.
Commercial 2
Article content material
St-Gelais is the president of Boisaco, a forest merchandise firm primarily based on Quebec’s north coast that employs about 600 folks and depends on the U.S. marketplace for about 10 per cent of its enterprise.
The corporate’s $200 million in annual income isn’t sufficient to dominate the Canadian panorama, however it’s an financial superpower within the Sacré-Cœur group of simply 10,400 folks.
The rationale St-Gelais is so nervous is that since Trump took workplace 4 weeks in the past, he’s seen a drop of about 25 per cent in orders from Canada and the US. His clients are shopping for simply sufficient to cowl their short-term wants, ready to see if the president will tackle the trade.
“There’s uncertainty and individuals are very cautious,” he informed the Nationwide Submit.
With the specter of a 25-per-cent tariff approaching March 4, the forest trade is strolling on eggshells. However extra importantly, the president might effectively add a selected tariff on softwood lumber.
This week, a delegation from the Forest Merchandise Affiliation of Canada went to Washington to fulfill with American stakeholders and elected officers.
First Studying
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
“They actually need the merchandise we’re sending them. The information are the information,” mentioned Jean-François Samray, the CEO of the Quebec Forest Trade Council who participated within the journey.
Advisable from Editorial
-
Canada will probably be ‘unequivocal’ in its response to U.S. tariffs: Trudeau
-
After metal and aluminum, Trump threatening tariffs on Canadian automobiles as much as 100%
However in Canada, and that is notably the case in Quebec, stakeholders concern that the trade won’t have the energy to struggle one other wave of tariffs.
At present, the softwood lumber trade is already topic to a 14.4-per-cent levy with the US. Whereas the aluminum sector didn’t appear too apprehensive a couple of potential 25-per-cent tariff, forestry trade gamers are more and more involved about Trump’s upcoming tariff selections. Logging operations, sawmills and pulp and paper mills have all seen closures and job losses lately.
“It’s a really totally different story for aluminum than it’s for the forestry sector… The margins in that sector are a lot smaller, so it’s tougher for corporations to climate extra tariffs,” mentioned Rachel Samson, vice-president of analysis on the Institute for Analysis on Public Coverage.
Commercial 4
Article content material
Samray says the Quebec trade is dealing with an ideal storm with a forestry regime that’s “dying,” wildfires and now the specter of huge tariffs.
“In some instances, there will probably be closures. It might be non permanent closures, it might be longer-term closures,” he mentioned. “However tomorrow morning, if tariffs have been carried out, I can let you know that Quebec lumber will nonetheless cross the border,” he added.
Bloc Québécois pure sources critic Mario Simard is worried the trade is in a blind spot proper now. He says many of the telephone calls he’s been getting in latest weeks have been from folks within the forestry sector.
“They’re on life assist; they’ve been paying tariffs within the U.S. since 2017. In case you add 25 per cent for them, it might be a catastrophe,” he mentioned.
Final week, federal Pure Assets Minister Jonathan Wilkinson visited Washington and, based on his workplace, no new tariffs on softwood lumber or forest merchandise have been mentioned throughout his conferences. In the meantime, the president was telling the press within the Oval Workplace that “we don’t want (Canada) for lumbers, we don’t want them for something.”
Commercial 5
Article content material
“Our first precedence is to take away all tariffs and tariff threats completely. We’ll assist Canadian industries as crucial ought to extra tariffs are available in and trigger financial disruption,” mentioned Wilkinson’s spokesperson, Carolyn Svonkin.
Yearly, the US consumes about 50 billion-foot board measure (FBM) of lumber and produces about 30 billion.
In accordance with International Affairs Canada, the US’ softwood lumber consumption was anticipated to succeed in 3.8-billion FBM in January 2025 alone. Canada’s export was estimated at 983 million FBM throughout that interval. British Columbia exported a couple of third of the overall quantity, adopted by Alberta and Quebec.
Including tariffs would improve the value People pay for wooden merchandise, however it might additionally overflow the Canadian market, impacting smaller gamers like Boisaco.
“That might finally fully undo the dynamics of the Canadian market which might robotically impression us,” St-Gelais mentioned.
Nationwide Submit
atrepanier@postmedia.com
Get extra deep-dive Nationwide Submit political protection and evaluation in your inbox with the Political Hack e-newsletter, the place Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s actually occurring behind the scenes on Parliament Hill each Wednesday and Friday, completely for subscribers. Enroll right here.
Our web site is the place for the newest breaking information, unique scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and join our day by day e-newsletter, Posted, right here.
Article content material
