Montana lumber mill: new tariffs on Canadian timber are a good start

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said U.S.

The dispute became news across the state when Grassland Dairy notified almost 60 farms in Wisconsin it would no longer buy their milk starting May 1st because of new trade policies by the Canadian government.

The U.S. lumber industry filed a complaint last fall with the Commerce Department after a year of unsuccessful negotiations between U.S. and Canada following the expiration of a bilateral agreement on softwood lumber. "That does not mean they don't have to play by the rules", Ross further commented in a White House briefing.

President Trump says this will level the playing field for American lumber companies.

Trump announced the new tariff at a White House gathering of conservative journalists, shortly before the Commerce Department said it would impose countervailing duties ranging from 3 percent to 24.1 percent on Canadian lumber producers including West Fraser Timber.

For decades, USA lumber companies have been complaining that Canadian companies have an unfair advantage - their timber largely comes from publicly owned land maintained by the government.

"For years, American communities who depend on the softwood lumber industry have had their livelihoods threatened by heavily subsidized Canadian lumber increasingly imported into the US", the statement said.

Early Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted that Canada "has made business" for dairy farmers "very difficult" as well. Yes, this lumber tariff will cost Americans money, and we're not arguing in favor of tariffs. For softwood lumber, the countries have had a once-a-decade cycle of tariffs, trade litigation and ultimately settlements.

The two countries and Mexico are also preparing to renegotiate the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Canadian Prime Minister has warned of a "thickening border" with the United States as trade tensions continue to escalate.

As he signed the executive order, Trump said: "We don't want to be taken advantage of by other countries - and that's stopping and that's stopping fast".

"None of our farms that I'm aware of ship any milk or milk products into Canada", said Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator Jay Matteson.

And there's also word that dairy products could be next on the president's list.

The president may turn his focus to the dairy industry next, with the commerce secretary saying, "It's been a bad week for U.S".

Lumber prices have already jumped 22 percent since the beginning of the year, largely in anticipation of new tariffs, adding almost $3,600 to the price of a new single-family home.

"You can not thicken this border without hurting people on both sides of it, " Trudeau added.

They warned the action would have a negative impact on American families who will have to pay more to build or renovate homes. One person in the room said Trump threatened that dairy could be next.

In recent weeks, the United States has argued that Canada protects its dairy industry to the detriment of farmers here.