Softwood lumber contentious topic

MacLellan meets with U.S officials on common trade concerns

The province’s Minister of Business says the next six months will be crucial as festering trade issues between Canada and the United states are debated.

Geoff MacLellan, the province’s Minister of Business and the MLA for Glace Bay, just returned from the National Governor’s Association meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, which he attended as part of the Canadian delegation.

One of the main issues discussed was softwood lumber and potential countervailing duties being applied to Canadian lumber. The first two days of the trip included time in Washington. D.C., to meet specifically on that issue, MacLellan said.

“There’s a very important decision coming out from the U.S. Department of Commerce on how Canadian lumber will be treated as it crosses the border, with respect to countervailing tariffs,” he said. “Nova Scotia has been recommended for an exclusion on those tariffs and duties at this point but there’s a final decision that will come in early fall, so for us it’s to continue to push Nova Scotia’s position that our producers in the softwood lumber industry are of the free market environment.”

Among the meetings MacLellan held were sessions with the U.S. ambassador’ office, the U.S. Lumber Coalition and other representatives of the White House.

Trade is a significant concern across the country in light of protectionist comments being made by some members of the Trump administration. The future of the North American Free Trade Agreement was front and centre at the governors’ association meeting, MacLellan said, and there appears to be a desire on the part of the states to work with Canada.

“Governors seem to be somewhat disconnected from the White House communications position on NAFTA,” MacLellan said. “Our U.S. partners, particularly the northern states, they rely on trade with Canada and for them as well as for us, we’ve got to make sure that we’re keeping this mutually beneficial relationship open and fair on aspects that are important to both sides of the border.”

As someone who was only recently appointed to the portfolio and with important discussions on NAFTA coming up, MacLellan said he is trying to quickly get up to speed on the issues and to represent the interest of the province’s exporters.

Nova Scotia exports $3.6 billion in good to the United States, 70 per cent of all of the province’s exports. MacLellan said that represents 24,000 jobs in Nova Scotia.

“It impacts every region and every community in the province so we’ve got to make sure when we’re talking about things like seafood and the fisheries, like the production of tires, that we’re making sure that we’re providing best access for our producers,” he said.

Energy production will also increasingly have trade implications for the province, MacLellan added.