Provincial Green Party leader David Coon says when the Softwood Lumber Agreement expired in October 2015, J.D. Irving broke with the Maritime Lumber Bureau and requested that the U.S. Department of Commerce investigate its own New Brunswick-based mills. According to Coon, this put the exemption for all New Brunswick sawmills at grave risk.
Coon says the smaller, independent mills with higher wood costs have been slapped with a 20% duty retroactive to three months ago. The U.S. Commerce Department recently announced a 3 per cent tariff on softwood lumber from the mills owned by J-D Irving.
A coalition, made up of 11 lumber companies in the province, is disputing Coon’s contention of any disunity, saying they are united in fighting the U.S. tariffs.
