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Price Hikes Loom as Canadian Lumber Tariffs to Double in Weeks
[Jul 1, 2025]


 

Global governments are racing the clock to shore up trade agreements ahead of Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, introduced on April 8 but stalled for 90 days, which are due to take effect next week (July 9). “We have countries that are negotiating in good faith, but they should be aware that if we can’t get across the line because they are being recalcitrant, then we could spring back to the April 2 levels,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg Television yesterday.

And whilst lumber – as well as copper and critical minerals – are not tied up in these tariffs (and will instead be subject to a National Security probe), Canada lumber traders are concerned that a decision to more than double duties on more than 12 billion board feet of softwood lumber shipped into the United States every year from later this month could be disastrous for companies and communities on both sides of the border.

“This really could be a huge impact specifically to Northwestern and Northern Ontario,” according to Rick Dumas, the Mayor of Marathon – a small town in northwestern Ontario, Canada, “but for that matter, all of Canada in regards to the lumber sector.”

Dumas, who is also the President of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA), is concerned that a decision by the US Department of Commerce to impose a countervailing and anti-dumping rate of more than 34.45% on all lumber imported from Canada to the United States, up from 14.5%, may have adverse effects. And with the tariffs days away from taking effect, Dumas has called on all levels of government to act with urgency—to help resolve a dispute that has its origins back in the late 1700s.

“We just got to continue to make sure that we’re lobbying on behalf of our communities and bring the voice of the North, specifically the Northwest, so the government understands clearly that this will have devastating impacts if we continue to see these tariffs applied,” he said. “Let’s get the deal on the table for the end of July. NOMA is always there in support of the communities it represents. We’re hopefully all speaking with one voice, making sure we protect our local economies.”
 

Source snnewswatch.com



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