U.S. Lumber Coalition Calls for Cuts to Canada’s Lumber Overcapacity

He emphasized that further action is needed to address structural overcapacity, which he claims drives unfair trade practices and harms American forestry workers and communities.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): U.S. Lumber Coalition has urged Canada to address what it describes as a “market-disrupting and unsustainable” excess capacity in softwood lumber production, escalating tensions in the long-running U.S.-Canada lumber trade dispute.

According to the coalition, Canada consumes roughly 7.5 billion board feet of softwood lumber annually but maintains production capacity of about 27 billion board feet, supported by government-backed subsidy programs. The group argues that this imbalance forces Canadian producers to export large volumes, with regions such as British Columbia shipping more than 85% of output abroad—much of it into the U.S. market.

U.S. Lumber Coalition Challenges Canadian Subsidy, Citing Unfair Trade

Steve Swanson stated that U.S. trade enforcement measures, including antidumping and countervailing duties as well as Section 232 tariffs, have already reduced Canada’s share of the U.S. lumber market from 32% to approximately 19%. He emphasized that further action is needed to address structural overcapacity, which he claims drives unfair trade practices and harms American forestry workers and communities.

The coalition contends that reducing Canada’s excess production capacity would curb the need to offload surplus lumber into the U.S., potentially stabilizing the market and resolving the long-standing dispute. The issue remains central to North American trade relations, with both countries closely tied through the integrated forestry supply chain.