The union representing northern B.C.'s sawmill workers has welcomed a two-year extension of the Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement.
"Our industry still faces challenges from the U.S. lumber coalition, however, with the extension of the softwood agreement, we can breathe a little easier and hope that common sense will prevail," said United Steelworkers Local 1-424 president Frank Everitt in a press release issued Thursday.
Trade representatives from Canada and the United States announced the extension on Jan. 23.
Since the signing of the 2006 deal, the U.S. has won two judgments at the London Court of International Arbitration.
In a third complaint that B.C. is exaggerating the damage from mountain pine beetle to reduce stumpage fees, the U.S. is seeking $303.6 million, down nearly $200 million from its original claim.
Canada has until today to file its own rebuttal of this latest U.S. document and hearings before the London Court of Arbitration will be held in March. A decision is expected in late-2012.
The U.S. first filed its complaint complaint alleging violations of the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement in August 2011.
Like others, Everitt also emphasized diversifying markets for Canadian lumber.
"The United States will always play an important role in lumber exports but we hope the lesson has been learned we cannot keep all our eggs in one basket when it comes to markets for our products," Everitt said.
Since the U.S. housing crash that began in 2007, Canadian shipments of wood products south have tumbled from $19 billion in 2004 to $5 and $6 billion in 2009 and 2010 respectively. According to government data, lumber exports to the U.S. totalled $2.6 billion in the first 11 months of 2011, with B.C. accounting for 58 per cent of the total.
However, lumber exports to China rose 103 per cent in 2011 from the previous year, and now represent 23 per cent of total softwood shipments.
