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3 facts you need to know
About Canada-US softwood agreement
By Bill Bennett
Kootenay East MLA
1. This agreement restricts Canadian lumber exports to the US when lumber prices drop to a specified level, in return for certainty of access to US markets for Canadian lumber. The agreement has been good for both countries, but expires in October, and the US does not intend to renew the agreement.
2. B.C. produces over half the softwood lumber produced in Canada. B.C.’s forest industry provides thousands of family-supporting jobs in our communities. B.C. is standing up for these forestry jobs but we need the Government of Canada to lobby hard with us.
3. B.C.’s reliance on the US is one third of what it was in 2003, because of the work B.C. has done in developing Asian markets. However, the value of softwood lumber exports to the US still totalled $3 billion in 2014, so this is a very important issue for B.C. and for Canada.
This message funded by Bill Bennett
