British Columbia is looking to the Far East to find more of a future for the forestry industry, as the sector continues to be hammered by escalating tariffs from its biggest trading partner.
US duties on softwood lumber exported from B.C. and the rest of Canada tripled this year, growing to an average of 45 per cent after President Donald Trump imposed an additional 10-per-cent this fall. This means that lumber sold to American customers is 45 per cent more expensive south of the border with the tariffs that collect this additional revenue for the U.S. Treasury.
Canadian lumber accounts for almost 85 per cent of what the U.S. imports, making up nearly one quarter of the available supply in the United States. This market share has unfairly disadvantaged American operations, according to the U.S. Lumber Coalition, which accuses Canada of unfairly subsidizing its industry.
“Canada’s insistence on protecting its excess capacity and associated Canadian jobs means shipping 60 to 90 per cent of that lumber into the U.S. market at the direct expense of U.S. jobs,” stated the coalition’s Executive Director Zoltan van Heyningen. “Canada should reverse its massive lumber subsidy programs and should stop treating the U.S. market as its dumping ground for Canadian lumber.”
British Columbia exports more lumber than any other province, with 78 per cent of this wood headed to the United States, according to the province’s figures from the first eight months of this year. Over this same period nearly $4.4 billion worth of forestry products were sold from B.C. to American customers, accounting for 58 per cent of the industry’s total value of exports.
But those tied to forestry fear the growing tariffs will accomplish exactly what they are intended to do: discourage American companies from buying B.C.’s wood products.
“There are some buyers in the United States that are absorbing the 45 per cent. But the real questions is, will they absorb that forever?” asked Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar. “This is unfair. Russia has better access to the United States market than Canada does.”
Parmar spoke on Nov. 12 amid a week-long trade mission to Japan and South Korea. Accompanied by 61 other delegates, this was the largest forestry trade trip to Asia the B.C. government has undertaken, with seven representatives from First Nations or First Nations-owned businesses.
“Today the United States is redefining relationships with its trading partners. Tariffs are putting uncertainty across the global economy,” said Parmar. “We haven’t diversified fast enough.”
In 2024 B.C. sold $889 million of forestry products to Japan, while exporting $239 million to South Korea. The province hopes to increase this by building on partnerships with the South Asian countries, including playing a part in the 300,000 hotel rooms Japan aims to construct over the next five years for its tourism industry.
But for a sector that has for generations geared itself to American markets, some serious adaptions will be needed for this shift to Asia. Last year the United States bought three quarters of B.C.’s lumber exports, but just 11 per cent of the province’s unprocessed logs. China took in 51 per cent of these raw logs, totalling 1.4 million cubic metres, while Japan bought another 30 per cent of the log exports.
Processing lumber keeps B.C. mills operating, a dynamic that will need to be considered to prevent more facility closures in the province.
Over the first eight months of 2025 forestry exports to the U.S. dropped by just four per cent, but many in B.C. expect this to worsen in the coming months as the tariffs take hold.
“We’re looking at a difficult situation because so much of our timber, so much of our lumber, was ultimately bound for United States markets,” said John Jack, chief councillor of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations. “Because of the tariffs that’s dried up demand.”
North of Huu-ay-aht territory sits Port Alberni, a small city that through the 20th century built a reputation as the hub of the region’s logging activity. But over the last generation the town has seen a succession of mill closures.
“The system depends on a certain amount of fiber moving through the system, and it’s a heck of a lot more than what’s moving through right now,” said Jack. “It really disrupts the ecosystem of forestry in the Alberni Valley and on Vancouver Island. There needs to be wood going through the mills on the Island, including in the Alberni Valley, to help keep things like the paper mill operational.”
Forestry is a critical revenue generator for many coastal First Nations. Through a combination of salvaging, harvest licences, tenures and partnerships with companies operating in its territory, the Tseshaht counts on forestry to be its top revenue generator, complementing the government funding that covers 60 to 75 per cent of the First Nation’s operations and services for its members.
Up to three quarters of the Huu-ay-aht Group of Businesses’ revenue comes from forestry, but Jack foresees the need to find other markets for this to continue. Last summer he accompanied Premier David Eby on a trade mission to Japan.
“I’m a huge proponent of diversifying our markets because then we’re not so reliant on a country whose decision makers are not necessarily predictable and stable. I think of all the countries in the world, in places like Japan and South Korea stability are virtues,” he said. “I find that compatible with Maa-nulth culture.”
