[Alberta's Child]

Lumber production is declining in the U.S. because the Canadian producers were smart enough to play the U.S. tariff game, and they've been kicking our @sses ever since. To make up for the increased cost brought on by the tariff, Canadian mills have spent the last few years improving their efficiency and extracting concessions from their labor unions. As a result, they've been able to make up for the cost differential and hold their own against U.S. producers.

(The predictable response by the U.S., of course, was to raise the tariff even higher -- but that only made things worse!)

More importantly, the improvements in productivity at Canadian mills made U.S. producers utterly uncompetitive in cases where the tariff doesn't apply -- like in export markets in Asia.

Your point about Santa Cruz County may be a valid one, but let me ask you this . . . your comment could just as easily apply to a manufacturing facility as to a forest, so what makes you think anything would be different in the manufacturing sector if the U.S. were to impose a tariff on Chinese imports?

[-=[_Super_Secret_Agent_]=-]

Asia market wiull be the next big thing for BC. I've heard they're making more money in asia than in the US.