Resolute Forest Products CEO Richard Garneau made the case for free trade in the wood products industry with the U.S., noting that managed trade increases volatility, creating an unpredictable and unstable trade environment between the two large trading partners.
Garneau advocated to the Canadian Parliament’s Standing Committee on International Trade for free, unencumbered access for softwood lumber exports from Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) to the U.S. market.
Garneau challenged the claims by some that the previous 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement between the United States and Canada produced predictability and stability. Garneau made the case that managed trade increased volatility, creating an unpredictable and unstable trade environment between the two large trading partners.
While Western Canadian softwood lumber producers benefited from China’s extraordinary economic development, logistical limitations mean that Asian markets remain out of reach for Central Canadian producers. Additionally, Western softwood lumber producers’ purchase of some 40 sawmills in the U.S., with a production capacity of some five billion board feet, afford them an important measure of insulation from future restrictive measures.
Resolute is Canada’s largest forest products company and the largest producer of softwood lumber east of the Rockies. Garneau has spent over 40 years in the field.
From Woodworking Network: http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/pricing-supply/resolute-forest-ceo-makes-free-trade-case-canadian-house-commons?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news