Trump Administration To Impose 20 Percent Tariff On Canadian Lumber

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the tariff will be applied retroactively.

"We are fearful this could have an impact on jobs", Whittaker said Tuesday.

These are the first tariffs imposed by President Trump, who during his election campaign threatened to use them on imports from both China and Mexico.

"If NAFTA was functioning properly, you wouldn't be having these kinds of very prickly, very unfortunate developments back to back", he said.

The softwood spat is unfolding amid a much bigger trade issue - renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trudeau responded Tuesday to news that the US plans to impose a 20-percent tariff on softwood lumber entering the United States from Canada.

That led to an unusual scene.

Farms in NY and Minnesota were also affected by the change. But Obama's US trade representative, Michael Froman, now at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the Canadians made a decision to gamble on the new administration. Ross replied: "They're generally a good neighbour". "But they still have to play by the rules".

"There are no victors in a trade war", said Scott Brison, president of the Treasury Board, in a phone interview from Detroit, where he was promoting the value of bilateral trade.

That theory appeared to gain currency Tuesday.

He said there is roughly $15 billion worth of softwood lumber used in houses in the USA and about 31.5% of that comes from the Canadians."So that's roughly $5 billion a year".

One official said the softwood element could be welcome, depending on where negotiations go.

While they discussed the dairy and lumber irritants, the White House said: "It was a very amicable call". -Canada lumber trade dispute. "It's a disgrace", Trump told reporters in the Oval Office last week.

As Donald Trump threatens a trade war with our neighbors to the north, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to phone the White House on Tuesday, likely to explain basic economics to the reckless US president.

The forest products sector contributes more than $1.45 billion (Canadian) to New Brunswick's economy and employs about 22,000 people in the province.

Canadian cabinet ministers, who have fanned out across the United States in recent weeks to lobby state governors, mayors, and other policymakers, said the US combativeness on trade won't change the overall strategy. "The previous administration was not interested in getting on the dance floor with Canada when it came to lumber products", Clark said. USA homebuilders quickly warned that the move would drive up the cost of new houses.

"We have to pay that extra price for lumber".

"These price hikes have negative repercussions for millions of Americans, " said the group.

USA lumber companies allege that Canadian firms are provided with unfair subsidies by the Canadian government.

The true impact of the US tariffs will be hard to measure because the industry is also affected by the ebbs and flows of the market, but past experience has shown that these kinds of measure have caused job losses in the past, said Whittaker. "Whenever they have a surplus, I have no fear", he said. If Trump knows Trudeau can create messages that resonate with middle American consumers, he is likely to pare down his demands considerably.