New Brunswick premier pens letter to prime minister on softwood lumber tariffs

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt is asking the federal government to secure a deal on softwood lumber with the U.S.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt has written to Prime Minister Mark Carney in hopes Ottawa will make softwood lumber discussions a priority with the United States.

Holt’s letter, co-signed by six other premiers and sent late Tuesday, urges Carney to assign the appropriate resources to negotiate a softwood lumber agreement on exports to the United States.

“Ultimately, we seek a negotiated agreement that will maintain and secure the Canadian softwood lumber industry. Our governments expect to be closely consulted as this negotiation process continues,” Holt wrote.

U.S. President Donald Trump has set an Aug. 1 deadline for trade negotiations and is threatening to impose 35 per cent tariffs if a deal can’t be worked out between the two countries.

In an interview with CTV News Atlantic on Thursday, Holt said there’s a mood of uncertainty and real instability about the deadline with the U.S.

“What’s going to come tomorrow? It’s really hard to predict,” said Holt.

Holt called the softwood lumber tariffs “unjustified” and said they threaten many New Brunswickers’ jobs and a critical industry to the province.

According to Holt’s letter, Canada’s forest industry provides more than 176,000 jobs nationwide and contributed over $23 billion to the economy in 2024.

More than 26,000 people in New Brunswick are directly employed by the forestry sector.

“It is the economic backbone of numerous rural, indigenous, and northern communities, generating vital employment and sustaining local businesses through spin-off effects in transportation, equipment manufacturing, and professional services,” said Holt.

Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department raised anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood to 20.56 per cent, a hike of over 14 per cent.

J.D. Irving said in a news release on Monday the increase will mean an expected new total of 34 per cent by the middle of August when combined with an anticipated rise in countervailing duties.

Holt said Canada’s softwood lumber industry across the country has been working together and the belief now is there’s an opportunity to take a pan-Canadian approach to resolving softwood lumber duties disputes for the first time in 40 years.

“With your government engaged in direct trade talks with the U.S. Trump administration, we believe there is an opportunity to forestall further duties that will impact our forest sector companies, our workers, and our communities and achieve a durable resolution to this issue,” Holt said.

The premier said she’s spoken with forest industry leaders consistently throughout the trade tension process and she’s confident Prime Minister Carney will put softwood lumber on the table and fight to get a better deal for New Brunswick and the communities that rely on the forestry sector.

Holt also pointed out some wood comes from the U.S. into Canada.

“I was meeting with the governor of New Hampshire not too long ago. Their logs come into our province for processing and go back down. This is going to really hurt that particular Republican state,” said Holt.

In the letter Holt went on to say the premiers are “deeply concerned” about the state of communities across Canada that are dependent on the forest industry.

“With the United States planning new measures that will more than double the import duties now imposed on the softwood sector, it is these communities that will suffer the most when U.S. lumber duties increase,” said Holt.

Impact on mills

One of those communities is Chipman, N.B., home of J.D. Irving’s Grand Lake Timber sawmill.

On Tuesday, Grand Lake Mayor Kevin Nicklin told CTV News the mill in Chipman employs roughly 400 people in a community of around 1,100.

“We’ve been advocating to the province on the fact that this is predatory action,” said Nicklin in regards to the new anti-dumping duties. “It’s unwarranted. We’ve done nothing in our area wrong, but it’s going to effect all of our communities if the forestry industry suffers.”

If a new deal with the U.S. can’t be negotiated, Nicklin and Chipman residents fear for the worst.

“If the mill goes down, or if there’s a shut down or a slow down, it means people won’t be able to put food on the table. They won’t be able to pay their mortgages. It’s life for us,” said Nicklin.

Chipman resident Cindy Gallant told CTV News on Tuesday she’s hoping Trump’s tariffs won’t result in job losses.

“If we lose jobs in Chipman, Chipman could become a ghost town. There’s a lot of retirement people here, but the people that are here depend upon that mill,” said Gallant. “Local businesses need that for people’s income.”

New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners president Rick Doucett said there’s a lot of anxiety among woodlot owners on the eve of the trade deadline.

He said there’s also some frustration about the federal and provincial governments not getting their house in order when there was a chance to negotiate.

“There’s also a fair amount of anger and it’s not really directed at the current U.S. administration, it’s actually directed at our provincial and federal governments not resolving the original duties and tariff issue over the last nine years and putting us in a such weak position to weather this new storm,” said Doucett.

Doucett pointed out there was a lot of uncertainty about the industry even before the latest threat of anti-dumping duties.

“The marketing situation in this province has been absolutely pathetic for woodlot owners. It’s been in decline for 25 years. The ability to get a fair market price for wood in this province is absolutely terrible,” said Doucett. “The margins are so thin right now that any extra cost being passed on to woodlot owners and producers is going to be the end for sure. There’s no question about it.”

Holt said the premiers are committed to working together with Ottawa to make sure people that work and live in communities dependent on softwood lumber get the support they need and deserve.

“With your leadership, we hope to see a new and long-lasting trade agreement with the United States that will help to bring stability to the entire forest products sector and the people that depend on it, right across Canada,” said Holt.

Holt said she has a lot of faith in Canada’s negotiating team but no new deal may be better than a bad deal.

“The only thing we want to emerge from tomorrow is a better deal than the one we have today,” said Holt. “If that’s not available then I think the prime minister is prepared to walk away from the table.”

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.