On NAFTA, Canadians wonder if they’ve been outmaneuvered by Trump

WaPo ^ | 29 Aug 2018 | Alan Freeman

[mandaladon]

OTTAWA — Shortly after his election in late 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared “Canada is back,” promising a renewed Canadian presence on the world stage.

Trudeau has taken political hits since then for minor lapses, such as a luxury family holiday visit to a Caribbean island and an ill-fated trip to India, but his biggest challenge, just a year before Canadians go to the polls, has come from the leader of Canada’s longtime military ally and economic partner.

Now, Canadians worried that their government has been sidelined in crucial trade talks and may be forced to back down on important economic issues, having been outmaneuvered by President Trump and possibly sold out by an erstwhile Mexican ally.

Several rounds of tense discussions about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) culminated Monday in a trade pact that excluded Canada, prompting Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland to cut short a trip to Europe and dash to Washington for the first trilateral trade talks with the United States and Mexico in five weeks.

[21twelve]

What with the rock band RUSH retired and all - I can’t think of a single thing we need anymore from Canada. Us here in the Seattle area had enough of their smoke the last couple of weeks to last us for awhile too.

[woodbutcher1963]

“the least expensive lumber in the world is produced in the southern United States.”

There are several reasons for this. SYP(southern yellow pine) grows to a harvestable size faster than any other species in the world.

Most of the timberlands in the SE US are privately owned and managed. Out in the NW US we continue to see the fires resulting from poorly managed federal timber land. Canada is much better at managing their provincial timber land than the US government. However, private companies are always better than government on either side of the border.

Many of the SE US sawmills are all non union. This leads to a lower cost of production/board foot than other producers in the western US. It is the same reason why all the foreign auto makers build new plants in the SE.

All the projections by economists show that the SYP lumber producers will continue to gain market share in comparison to other species over the next 30 years. This is why all the major Canadian mills such as Canfor, West Fraser, Interfor, Tolko, Conifex have all purchased mills in the SE US or built new mills in places like Alabama. There are also German mills like Klausner that are in the process of building new mills in Florida with the idea that they will either sell in the US or ship overseas.

[poconopundit]

It’s fascinating stuff. Thanks for sharing. I can attest to the fast growing conditions here the South East. When we cut down a tree in our backyard, it only takes a couple weeks (in summer) for you to get several new branches growing.

But agriculture is a challenge in the South because the insects will eat anything. Apparently the insects stay away from pine trees.

I go behind our Home Depot and rake up the pine needles — great ground cover and with long needles as opposed to the short-needled pines in the Northeast where I’m originally from.

[Professional Engineer]

Bttt