What are your opinions on the softwood lumber issue with Canada?

[HEyHEY]

My opinion is that Bush is fucking over Canada and breaking the NAFTA agreement. Not that I like NAFTA, I am undecided, but the US signed it and won't abide by it. :wtf:

[lcordero]

1. Canada has soft lumber? I feel for them

They should start using viagra

On a serious note, they should start looking for other trading partners.If I was in their shoes I would have started looking elsewhere before the "Iraq War" started.

[lcordero]

2. I take that back

I would have started looking for other trading partners as soon as they pulled the coup.

[caribmon]

3. Sell them pot instead

In BC, it's a multibillion dollar cottage industry - grow ops - and the police can't keep up with it.

The irony is, they cheat to stop our lumber at the border and we cheat to get marijuana over the border.

[lcordero]

4. LOL

That is funny

[Friar]

6. I think Japan

is their biggest customer for lumber. We're #2. I could be wrong though. I'm almost positive we're their #1 buyer of hardwood.

[CafeToad]

5. My un-informed opinion is that the lumber industry is in big

trouble in Canada, with or without the Bush tariffs.

On one hand, the tariff might be a good thing from an environmental perspective (to save a few forests). On the other hand (and there's a post about this topic over in the Energy forum I believe), vast areas of British Columbia's forests are now being killed by some type of beetle that is thriving due to global warming. Apparently, all these trees must be harvesed ASAP (or the dead trees will be a tinderbox leading to huge forest fires during the next dry summer) - this lumber will probably have to be sold at a loss due to the Bush tariff (due to insect damage the wood is low quality and the Japanese and Europeans won't buy it so the only market is the USA since fast and cheap is more important here than quality).