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Trump’s Tariff on Canadian Lumber May Have Mixed Results for Maine

A new 20 percent tariff on Canadian lumber imposed by President Donald Trump could produce mixed results for Maine’s forest products industry.

The president’s call for the new import duty is in response to complaints from American lumber companies that claim Canadian mills enjoy unfair subsidies from the Canadian government, which allows them to sell their products in the U.S. at cheaper prices than American companies.

Patrick Strauch, the executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council, says industry leaders in Maine are watching to see exactly how the new tariff will be implemented.

“The issue in Maine is interesting — we have a lot of competing interests, and sorting through just what the effect of the softwood lumber agreement and what the final details of it will be is going to be interesting for Maine to take a look at,” he says.

Strauch says Canadian mills that saw Maine softwood might be able get an exemption under Trump’s tariff if they can prove that their wood was not harvested off government, or crown, land.

“If they’re not receiving crown wood and the majority of their wood comes from Maine, it’s been argued that they should not be part of the tariff in the past,” he says.

In the absence of that exemption, Strauch says Maine landowners selling to Canadian mills that could be hurt by the tariff, while some Maine lumber mills could see a boost in demand for their structural lumber products.