Trump’s tariff shock: Canada’s lumber faces harsher penalties than Moscow’s

Canada’s forestry heartland is fuming after the U.S. announced fresh tariffs on lumber that are now higher than those imposed on Russia — a country under Western sanctions for its war in Ukraine.

The Trump administration’s latest 10% duty, added to an existing 35% levy, is a major blow to one of Canada’s most important export industries. British Columbia Premier David Eby slammed the move as an “attack on Canadian workers” and demanded immediate federal aid to keep sawmills and logging communities afloat.

“Our friends south of the border, with whom we have worked and fought side by side, now give us worse market access than Russia,” Eby said on Tuesday. “It’s shocking, and it demands an emergency response from Ottawa.”

The forestry sector drives much of British Columbia’s economy, generating about 100,000 jobs and billions in exports to the U.S. — CAN$5.6 billion in wood products and CAN$1.05 billion in pulp and paper in 2024 alone.

Eby urged Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to treat the situation with the same urgency shown toward Ontario’s auto and steel industries, warning that rural livelihoods are on the line.

The new tariffs also include a 25% duty on furniture and related goods, broadening the trade rift.

Carney met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington last week, leaving talks with cautious optimism after Trump promised Canada would “walk away very happy.” The sharp tariff hike, however, has left industry leaders questioning what went wrong — and whether political promises are being traded for populist protectionism.

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