US Lumber Industry Set to End Canada’s Dominance as Tariffs Bite

The southern US is poised to surpass Canada’s long-held dominance over the North American lumber industry as decades of trade restrictions take a toll.

The US region is set to eclipse Canada for softwood lumber capacity for the first time since at least 1970, according to commodity pricing agency Fastmarkets. It’s a remarkable turnabout that signals how much a key Canadian resource sector has diminished due to years of US duties and other challenges including wildfires, land-use regulation and insect infestation.

The US hiked import duties on Canadian softwood lumber by almost 81% in August, the latest move in a ...