b'30American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(RATEcontinued fromin 2022 to 19.8 billion board feet.page 26)consistentlycontested(withc anforr eDucespositive results) such past mea- s outhernus o PeratIonssures at the United States CourtDuetothepersistentweak of International Trade. lumber markets, Canfor Corpora-h ousInga fforDabIlIty tion, a major forest products pro-I ssue onb oths IDes of ducer with 50 facilities in Canada, theUnitedStatesandEurope, theb orDer recently announced a reduction of InVancouver,KurtNiquidet,its southern US operations.PresidentoftheBCLumberThe changes we are making Trade Council (BCLTC), argued:willbetteralignproduction ThesedutiescontinuetobecapacityinourUSoperations unjustified and unfair. Commercewith current market conditions, hasdepartedfromlong-standingcommented Lee Goodloe, presi-methodologies, resulting in thedent of Canfor Southern Pine.higherratesannounced.TheseVancouver-based Canfor is rateswillhurtU.S.consum- indefinitely curtailing one shift ersbyincreasingthecostofat its Darlington facility in South lumberandbuildingmaterialsCarolina,andreduceoperating at a time when concerns abouthours at its Estill, South Caro-affordability continue to impactlina and Moultrie, Georgia loca-consumers on both sides of thetions.Thecompanywillalso border. implementcurtailmentsacross Thiscouldntcomeatother southern US operations to aworsetimeforBClumberbetter align with market demand. producers. The increase in USThesechangeswillreduce tariffs on BC lumber productslumberproductionbyapproxi-will exacerbate the extremelymately 215 million board feet on challengingconditionsfacedan annualized basis. Pallets of Canfor stacked lumber at lumber yard in Hudson, Wisconsin.Dreamstime photo.byBCproducersandwill impactmanufacturingopera-tions,jobsandcommunities around the province. BCLTCwillcontinueto defendtheinterestsofB.C. producers.Unfortunately,the delaysintheappealprocess have made it increasingly diffi-cult for this to happen in a timely fashion, and these delays must be addressed and resolved.Canadianlumberproduc-ers have already paid over CAD 9billioninduties,whichare held in deposit until this dispute is resolved, Niquidit indicated. CLOSERTheBCforestindustry isamajorcontributortothe provincialeconomyandsup-portsapproximately100,000 directandindirectjobsinthe province.However,Statistics Canada numbers issued last year showed that BC has lost more than40,000forestsectorjobs since the early 1990s. ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER IN WASHINGTON STATEinIn this conflict, BC and otherFASTERproducersacrossCanadahave found an ally in the United States theNational Associationof HomeBuilders(NAMB).The NAMB responded on August 19 to the August 13 Department of Commerce decision by express-ingitsdisappointmentand recalling its longstanding fight againstlumbertariffsbecauseDIRECT CONNECTIONS TO MAINLINE RAIL & INTERSTATE HIGHWAYSoftheirdetrimentaleffectonSMARTERhousing affordability. In effect, the lumber tariff acts as a tax on American builders, home buyers and consumers.Withhousingaffordabil-ity already near a historic low, NAHBcontinuestocallon theBidenAdministrationto suspendtariffsonCanadian lumber imports into the UnitedSTORAGE OPTIONS & FOREIGN TRADE ZONE SPACEStatesandtomoveimmedi- BETTERately to enter into negotiations with Canada on a new softwood lumberagreementthatwill eliminate tariffs altogether. Meanwhile, although some analystsseethefundamentals underlyingsoftwoodlumbers main end-use markets in Canada remainingstrong,thetrendsofON-DOCK RAIL & DUAL-SERVED BY BNSF & UPshipments in the past few years have reflected an industry under severe stress. Canadian softwood lumbershipmentsplungedby nearly2.2billionboardfeetin 2022.ThetrendcontinuedinCONTACT US AT [email protected] | PORTOFLONGVIEW.COM2023 with these shipments drop-ping from 20.9 billion board feet'