Portland — Oregon timber executives said Tuesday they will consider adding jobs, instituting new shifts, and investing more in existing Northwest mills as a result of a new 20 percent duty on Canadian softwood lumber announced by the White House.
President Donald Trump announced the billion-dollar duty late Monday at a meeting of conservative media representatives. He said more tough trade tactics could be in the works against certain Canadian industries, with the Canadians vowing to retaliate.
For operators in the Northwest, the duties could bring some relief from Canadian lumber suppliers they claim are heavily subsidized by their government. Thanks to that government support, Canadian lumber suppliers have won more than 30 percent of the U.S. market.
“This is all about jobs,” said Steve Swanson of the Swanson Group, owner of a plywood mill in Springfield and sawmills in Roseburg and Glendale. “We should be able to add a few employees — 25 to 30 workers — in each of our sawmills.”
Trump joined a 35-year trade dispute Monday when he announced the 20 percent duties. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin requiring importers to pay cash deposits or post bonds equal to the estimated amounts of unfair subsidies.
The Commerce Department said that so-called countervailing duties ranging from 3 percent to 24 percent would be applied retroactively on five Canadian lumber exporters, The Associated Press reported. Overall the duties would average about 20 percent and could amount to a total of around $1 billion. Additional penalties could be levied if the Commerce Department determines that Canadian lumber is being dumped into U.S. markets.
Timber was for decades a titanic force in the Pacific Northwest economy. Employment in Oregon alone exceeded 80,000 from 1950 to 1980. The industry took a big hit in the 1980s recession and as concerns arose about its environmental impact. By 2012, employment had dwindled to below 30,000, according to the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, and has fallen further since then.
Monday’s announcement inspired a rare moment of bipartisan unity. “Unfairly traded softwood lumber from Canada has for decades hurt mill towns and American millworkers in Oregon and across the country,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “Today’s announcement sends the message that help is on the way.”
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., credited Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for making the lumber dispute a priority before the Trump administration moves on to a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Trump is not the first president to slap a duty on Canadian lumber. He is continuing a fight that Barack Obama and George W. Bush fought before him. In fact, the trade case that resulted in the new duty was instituted by the Obama administration.
