Softwood lumber - AGAIN!

[Wilber]

1 hour ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

It's a tax on new houses. People down south will figure that out at some point.   

 

 

That's their problem.

[bush_cheney2004]

1 minute ago, Wilber said:

That's their problem.

 

Agreed....I guess buying domestic product is only patriotic in Canada.

[Michael Hardner]

1 hour ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

 

Sure...when we bought our new construction house, we were keen to know how much was the cost for U.S. vs. Canada framing lumber

I had to laugh at this.  Ordering Canadian lumber means the CDN government subsidized you, which means you can laugh at Canada while you sleep.

[SpankyMcFarland]

9 hours ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

 

Sure...when we bought our new construction house, we were keen to know how much was the cost for U.S. vs. Canada framing lumber !

 

 

You'd be keen to know if the cost of the house you were planning went up suddenly. 

[bush_cheney2004]

19 minutes ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

You'd be keen to know if the cost of the house you were planning went up suddenly. 

 

Not really...lumber is about 7% of average new housing cost, so a 20% increase might have a $1500 impact....peanuts. 

And Canadian lumber only has a 30% market share in the U.S. market...even with the dumping.

Canada likes to tout just how much of an impact it would have, but it will go largely unnoticed and buried in the normal price fluctuations of any commodity.  

 

Edited April 29, 2017 by bush_cheney2004

[eyeball]

On 4/25/2017 at 4:04 PM, bush_cheney2004 said:

It gets funnier...when Canadians go to American owned Home Depot, they get to pick from the crappiest, lowest grade lumber left over after the best grades are exported to the U.S.

Well, it's not like you saps don't do the same.  Amongst other beach-combed timber, I built my house out of old growth Alaskan fir that fell off a US ship bound for Japan. Nailing anything into it now is hopeless its so rock hard. I need to drill a hole half the time.  

Those were the days, dragging 4' - 5' diameter full length old growth American logs home behind the boat.  And I know you'll appreciate this...I salvaged them from a sacred native beach in a federal national park.

But who needs all that American flotsam washing ashore anyway? Somebody had to go clean it up.

[bush_cheney2004]

Sorry...I just checked my exposed joists and wall studs in the basement and it's all #2 grade southern yellow pine.  The laminated beams are also of southern pine, made in Missouri.   Maybe there is some Canadian lumber in the roof trusses...but maybe not.

[SpankyMcFarland]

3 hours ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

 

Not really...lumber is about 7% of average new housing cost, so a 20% increase might have a $1500 impact....peanuts. 

And Canadian lumber only has a 30% market share in the U.S. market...even with the dumping.

Canada likes to tout just how much of an impact it would have, but it will go largely unnoticed and buried in the normal price fluctuations of any commodity.  

 

It would not go unnoticed by businesses paying for it. 

[SpankyMcFarland]

3 hours ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

 

Not really...lumber is about 7% of average new housing cost, so a 20% increase might have a $1500 impact....peanuts. 

And Canadian lumber only has a 30% market share in the U.S. market...even with the dumping.

Canada likes to tout just how much of an impact it would have, but it will go largely unnoticed and buried in the normal price fluctuations of any commodity.  

 

Peanuts to a big shot like you. 

[Machjo]

On 4/25/2017 at 9:18 AM, cannuck said:

I have to start this thread by apologizing for being absent for most of the next two weeks.   I will be travelling internationally and no idea what I will have for access.

Ever since Trump got elected, I have been wondering when the softwood lumber issue hits the fan.  American lobbyists have challenged this under NAFTA seemingly forever, and every dispute resolution panel finds that softwood lumber (leases on crown land sold by public auction - I believe exactly how the BLM deals with resource leasing in the USA) is NOT subsidized at all.

This is exactly the kind of problem I expected from the Trump administration.  The parallels with the show "Yes, Minister" are all too familiar.

Dairy, I'm OK with.  Supply management is a crock of socialist intervention in free markets (I was deeply involved with dumping the Canadian Wheat Board, so you can appreciate my abhorrance of of such things).  So, Yanks, help us out here and clobber that policy and bring your buddies up here into the real world.

Energy:  we will just have to wait and see what protectionist crap The Donald spews on that topic.  The majority of energy sector investment up here comes from the US.  Similarly, if we were to, say "cut the cord" from Hydro Quebec and Manitoba Hydro, vast areas of the USA would be perfectly dark - for a few seconds - followed by the whole grid coming down.

But softwood lumber????   Geez, give it a rest and deal with REAL problems.

Is this an effort to sacrifice Canada to get China on board to whack North Korea?

One thing I can guarantee you:  the pothead-loving child currently residing at 24 Sussex will be totally ineffective in dealing with this.

If the US doesn't want our lumber, then it shouldn't mind Canada imposing a 1/3 export tariff on it to the US, right?