Soaring cork prices offset U.S. tariffs

One year after the United States imposed high import tariffs on Canadian softwood products, the strong demand for wood and a record market price meant that American consumers felt they were struggling.

In 2017, Canadian timber producers paid the U.S. government a tariff of more than 200 million U.S. dollars, which accounted for about 20% of the value of all timber exports. However, the number of housing starts in the United States is even higher than in the past decade, which has pushed the prices of many timber products to record highs, which exceeds their tariffs.

In the last time with the United States about cork disputes. 20,000 forest workers were laid off and 400 sawmills were closed, but derek nighbor, chairman of the Canadian Forest Products Association, said that US demand is so strong that last year's cork-related layoffs or factory closures were not directly related.

He said that the government provided an 86.7 million dollar aid plan to help the industry weather this dispute, but it has not been fully utilized because these companies do not need help.

The U.S. federal government’s negotiations on softwood have been very calm, partly to be overshadowed by the large negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in part because the industry is faced with pests, forest fires, and railway vehicles. Shortages and other more pressing issues.