While I would not call US timber producers porcine I think people should recognize the US/Canadian Softwood war for what it is. More of the US trying to win at what it started as its unfair advantage in the first place: pseudo-free trade. Let's face a few facts about BC timber.
1. It's harvested mostly in Mountains by hi-line, helicopter or other limited extraction techniques.
2. This mountainous area has a winter period from October
to May during which it is dangerous or impossible to harvest. This is popularly called the big sleep in BC. Wages are adjusted for this layoff time and thus as higher per board foot than in other areas.
3. Harvesting in mountainous areas is dangerous at the best of times. 50 or more people a year or more are killed or injured in BC timber harvesting each year. There were many transportation accidents in haulage.
4. BC is the highest unionized, highest labour cost, highest cost of living place in Canada.
5. Cost of road building in mountainous areas is very high. Forestry companies pay the government for every road they make.
6. Fuel costs are higher in Canada.
7. Bidding takes place on every wood lot for each species. Up to 50 dollars/kunit stumpage is paid for some species. Clear cut is the rule so selective logging which is more economic for some companies cannot usually be done.
8. Local markets are smaller forcing export to make money./ Most small companies have to go through middle men to do exports. This cuts profits.
9. Much high? grade office and other furniture is made in the States from BC cants sold to finishing mills who make veneer. This value added trade is highly profitable for the veneer maker and the furniture maker. Most of this is export trade as few value added manufacturers exist in BC, a traditional BC weakness in this sector.
10. Canadian stumpage fees are adjusted to the shorter season and tougher conditions, higher costs in Canada.
It should also be noted that BOISE CASCADE and WEYERHAUSER and many other companies are NOT Canadian and they operate in Canada coast to coast. If it were so all fired cheap to log in Canada then every US company would be up here in droves bribing the civil service for the best land. If you add in the Japanese and a few other nationalities, in fact I think that is actually what is happening. But they ain't here for the higher wages and the higher costs and limited season, they are here for the generous land allotments (bribes applied), the trees you guys don't have with better grain and size, and the tax incentives our government extends them to hire Canadians that they don't give Canadian companies.
BC may have winter slow-down, but Ontario, the land of swamps cannot harvest a lot of timber until the winter freeze-up so it's the same difference. Different land different costs.
Where the US gov't can beat up it will. It will always try for whatever advantage it can see on paper. But on thing I know for sure. Not one person on the US committee on free trade from Carla on down ever ran a bush operation in BC and had to pay the costs and try to sell product and make money. If they had they would blush to make the statements they make.
One final stat. The average usage of woodfiber on a Weyerhauser allotment in the US is 96%. They can afford to yard in chippers. The average in Canada is 48%. You almost never see clean up and chipping on small logging sites in Canada. They cannot afford it.
If the US companies thought they could log in Canada cheaper and make more money exporting they would. They would not have their gov't complain about what they could make money at. So what is it all about? Pushing the Canadian companies out of business on the world market so they can walk in and pick up the pieces. Anyone who thinks the US companies would do otherwise is very, very naive. They aim to do it in the car trade and every other trade where they can pay lower relative wages and gov't costs in a larger market stateside. Free trade was invented by the US for US interests. Pure economic imperialism.
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