Ha! The fact is US mills are closing at an alarming rate due to lost profits and the big business interests there want more money to come to them in the form of tariffs. Since the housing market is in a catastrophic slump, less wood is needed or wanted. Their view is: why canadian wood at all? If there is less demand, then US wood or less expensive wood from elsewhere ( china perhaps?) will do. Its not about quality with them anymore, its about the cost. Don't be surprised if lobbying begins to raise the softwood tariffs again.

Not to worry! Our Prime Minister wouldn't give in to any new American demands! Or would he?

Backs to the wall boys. It appears the Yankee Fair Lumber Coalition is at it again. Don't be surprised when we get screwed again.

We need to find other customers badly. We may even need to retool our mills. If not, we should seriously scale down our capacity and market something else that has a higher value.

I agree with Owl. We seem to think that the Americans have some sort of obligation to buy Canadian Lumber. Why we should think this way is beyond me. If they dont like the price, or the way stumpage works, or the fact that from time to time we dump lumber south of the border, then of course they should do something about it.

If we Canadians dont like it then I suppose we can find new markets. This is what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket.

The US can and will get their pine from other countries if the price is right. mexico's tree growing season is year round and pine grows there. Russia and China have so much of it they can afford to lower prices to the US or make some juicy trade deals.

We forget about NAFTA. The Americans are obligated to free trade, and if the Americans don't like it, than Canada can put an export tax on the controled amount of energy Canada exports to the Americans, satisfactory to Canadian needs.

Leaving it to the Americans would be generous of Canada, but I think smart money would be for Canada to make the call itself and implement a Canadian energy security policy that makes the point who's wearing the pants in the American-Canadian relationship. All the Americans are able to recognize is energy, and access to energy, everything else is to be plundered by the patriots. Look at their political system and how corrupted it is with regard to Iraq.

Any president has the right and the sole authority to opt out of any treaty of the United States government between any foreign nation(e.g. ABM Treaty). To surrender to a treaty that can latter be abandoned for political advantage to a ruthless plundering US President is to condemn Canada to this future date dictator of our neighbour to the south.

It won't be an ‘if’, but rather a ‘when’, thus the importance of Canada remaining sovereign in our ability to protect our Canadian interests. Softwood lumber being the largest employer in Canada would be a Canadian interest.

Each step the Americans take away from free trade should be paid collectively through an export tax 10-fold from the Americans number one energy supplier IMO.

Not all goods are tariff free under the NAFTA. NAFTA oversees the softwood lumber situation and made rulings in canada's favor which ended up in reduced tariffs and the return of monies to canadian businesses. However, the US is now taking canada to court over NAFTA issuses and the softwood lumber agreement. According to the Yanks, canada is not living up to the treaty.
Truth is, without the US, canada would be up the creek without a paddle in terms of its GNP.

Those of us who depend on the forest industry to feed our children don't exactly like the idea of shutting down, but the fact is that there is a huge oversupply in the market. Forget Mexico - their pine is SYP and the big framer in the US is good old SPF. The reason? It's lighter and easier to work with. I have worked in mills all over the world, and it's Russia we need to worry about. If they ever get past their woes and begin to log Siberia, we're hooped. The pine and spruce there is of a high quality and VERY abundant. What we need to do is FIX the POS treaty that Emerson and Harper shoved down our throats. We went along with it due to the legal gun to our heads if we didn't - no other reason than that - except Canfor, where their old CEO was Emerson's lap dog. I hope their new CEO is smarter than that. We need them in the fight.

Then they can pay the workers in Russia, about what, $5 an hour to do the same job we do for over here for over $20... lay all the forestry workers off here, then who buys all the (lets say for example) the $50,000 trucks Ford and Chev have to offer, the $300,000 homes,etc.

"The pine and spruce there (in Russia)is of a high quality and VERY abundant."

With the global climate change the pine beetle and spruce bud worm may soon be feasting big time on this Russian tree paradise too!