Canada’s forestry sector is directly in the crosshairs of U.S. President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff strategy. Trump’s recent comment that he is considering additional tariffs on imported Canadian lumber – which would be on top the existing U.S. countervailing duties (CVDs) and anti-dumping duties (ADDs), and the threatened 25% border tariff – clearly demonstrates that Canada’s forestry sector will be a critical flashpoint in the U.S.-instigated trade war.

Even before the current threat of tariffs by the United States on Canada, our country’s forestry sector has been experiencing a perfect storm of repeated and intersecting crises. A combination of economic, environmental, and global challenges continues to destabilize the broader forestry sector, including:

• Lack of access to fibre continues to hamper operations in many regions,
• The impacts of insect kill are still being felt,
• Forest fires were less destructive in 2024 than the previous year, but still bad, and remain a significant annual risk,
• Important conservation efforts continue to complicate long-term planning,
• Generally flat prices are still making companies think twice about investments,
• And new EU regulations could negatively impact the ability of Canadian forest products to be sold in that market and around the world.

At the same time, the softwood lumber crisis continues, with U.S. countervailing duties (CVDs) and anti-dumping duties (ADDs) increasing last year, up to an average of around 15%. Later this year, we expect another review that could again double these softwood duties to around 30%.

Despite these challenges, Canada’s forestry sector is still an important economic and employment engine, especially in smaller, rural communities from coast to coast. In 2022, the forestry sector contributed approximately $33.7 billion to Canada’s economy, which is about 1.2% of the national GDP. The sector generates annual revenues in excess of $87.2 billion and provides 200,000 direct jobs in hundreds of communities across the country.

In 2023, Canada’s forestry exports (including lumber, raw logs, wood chips, manufactured wood products, and pulp and paper) totalled almost $38 billion. Of that, $29.3 billion, or roughly 77%, is exported to the United States.

The U.S. domestic production of softwood lumber is not sufficient to meet the demand from the home-building industry, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Home Builders. The U.S. imports about 25% of its total softwood lumber consumption from Canada. 

In other words, along with providing essential wood-based products such as packaging, diapers, hygiene products, paper towels, toilet paper, magazines, and specialty paper, Canadian softwood lumber and engineered wood products are helping the U.S. address its housing crisis. Canadian forestry workers are proud to know their products are helping ordinary Americans rebuild their communities in places like North Carolina, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helen, and around Los Angeles, which was recently devastated by wildfires.

The U.S. tariff threat poses an existential threat to Canada’s forestry sector. But at the same time, this threat is also a wake-up call for governments and forestry companies in this country. We must work together through this current tariff storm, but we must also look ahead to the transformation of our sector, building a more sustainable, inclusive and innovative forestry industry for future generations.

Unifor’s Forestry Council and its 22,100 members spread across 10 Canadian provinces – who work in a variety of forestry and logging occupations as well as wood product and pulp and paper manufacturing facilities – are committed to defending the Canadian forestry industry to protect jobs, investments and industrial capacity through whatever means necessary.

We will fight to defend and preserve our forests, mills and factories, our tools and machinery, and our forestry-dependent communities. We will work to sustain operations, and ensure they serve Canada’s productive, industrial objectives and ambitions.

We will continue working with federal, provincial and municipal governments to develop economic protection and financial assistance plans, trade diversification strategies, mitigate job losses and enhance income security provisions for all workers. We will lean on our strong collective agreement provisions to ensure Unifor members – and all Canadian forestry workers – can navigate this challenge.

Above all, we will work to end this economic threat that imperils our industry and our broader economy. We will coordinate with like-minded allies, and those willing to stand up for a brighter, more prosperous future of fair trade, good forestry jobs, global solidarity, and mutual respect.