FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, Feb. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Brunswick Lumber Producers (NBLP) represent 95% of the softwood lumber produced in the province, including 15 manufacturing plants with over 2000 direct jobs in rural New Brunswick.
Currently, the majority of NBLP members are paying a crippling duty of over 20% on exports to the United States. A severe disadvantage for producers that have long been recognized as operators within a free and fair trade forest system.
It is very difficult to resolve our lumber dispute until the trilateral United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is ratified by the House of Commons in Ottawa.
We are urgently calling on all parties in Parliament to work together next week to ratify this important trade agreement. Ratification will not only lead to bigger markets for Canada but may allow for a final settlement of the softwood lumber dispute and more opportunity for lumber producers in rural New Brunswick.
Media Contact
Jerome Pelletier
Chair, NB Lumber Producers
506.333.2761