THUNDER BAY — Sawmills and other forestry sector plants that already have established and diversified operations will likely be spared the worst of any trade war fallout.
That’s according to Stephen Boon, the northern area director for Unifor, the union that represents about 360 workers at sawmills in Ear Falls and Thunder Bay, as well as employees at a number of other forestry operations across the Northwest.
For example, Boon said that the Interfor-owned mill in Ear Falls is “one of their better mills in eastern Canada.”
“They're fairly diversified in the sense of sending a lot of their product already to Canadian operations and Canadian customers,” Boon continued. “So, they're fairly well positioned as well to deal with any upcoming trade war.”
Same goes for the Domtar operation in Thunder Bay, he said.
That’s all assuming that U.S. President Donald Trump and his regime don’t “drive the U.S. economy into a recession,” Boon said.
“If the market continues to tank the way it has been tanking, and he's committed to drive it into the ground, all bets are off in the sense of how deep any potential recession might be or how long,” he said. “So that's something that every industry right now is monitoring.”
The same goes for other parts of the forestry industry. Boon said that Unifor also represents workers at pulp and paper facilities in Thunder Bay and Dryden, an oriented strandboard (OSB) mill in Barwick near Fort Frances, as well as at other operations.
“Some of our operations are better situated, even some of our OSB plants in the area, they have a specialized product that's hard to replace,” Boon said. “They're simply business as usual, and the tariff will go on top of the price for the American customer, and they'll pay it.”
And some companies are actively seeking new markets, Boon said.
“Other mills right now that are selling to the U.S. are looking at Japan, Europe, other markets, to ship product there,” he said. “What will happen is that will take supply off the American market and actually drive up price.”
The softwood lumber industry has already been working within the confines of American tariffs for a long time, as well, he said.
For most of the workers across the industry, Boon said, they’re aware of the positions of the plants where they work.
“The two mills — Interfor in Ear Falls and Domtar Thunder Bay — are both aware they have good mills, they know they have good operations,” he said. “So, in terms of long term, there's not a concern, I don't think.”
“But as far as next month … I think everyone at the end of the day (knows) we're in an economic war right now — this isn't normal business.”
