Panel addresses softwood lumber trade
Montana Gov. Steve Bulllock, the Western Governors’ Association Chair, gives his opening remarks at the WGA meeting on Monday at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
Attendees of the 2017 Western Governors’ Association annual meeting stand for the presentation of the flags by Whitefish Boy Scout Troop 1917 on Monday afternoon as Luke Walrath and Betsi Morison of the Alpine Theatre Project sing both the “Star-Spangled Banner” and “O Canada” at the meeting’s opening event at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center on Monday. (Brenda Ahearn photos/Daily Inter Lake)
Premier Brad Wall of Saskatchewan, left, and Ambassador David MacNaughton make opening remarks at “Roundtable 1: Connecting Canada and the West,” at the start of the Western Governors’ Association meeting on Monday at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center.
Governor Steve Bullock shares a laugh with Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter of Idaho at the start of the Western Governors Association 2017 Annual Meeting on Monday, June 26, at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
With the governments of the United States and Canada engaged in multiple cross-border trade negotiations, two top Canadian officials on Monday sought to step back from the uptick in “protectionist” rhetoric during a panel discussion with nine governors from across the Western United States.
Monday kicked off the three-day Western Governors’ Association’s summer meeting in Whitefish, and leaders from both countries emphasized that the long-standing allies have deep economic ties, ranging from energy and agricultural production to the ongoing fight to keep invasive mussels out of the Columbia River basin.
“We take it for granted, when there is perhaps some rhetoric on both sides of the border that heats things up on the protectionist side of things,” Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said during the panel discussion. “Maybe our citizens or stakeholders are not as equipped as they could be to define what has been a very dynamic and mutually beneficial trade relationship.”
LEADERS FROM both countries also agreed on the importance of hammering out a new bilateral agreement on softwood lumber trade, but differed on exactly how to get there. The previous softwood trade deal expired in 2015, and ongoing efforts to craft a new agreement have yet to bear fruit.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced plans to implement tariffs against softwood lumber imports from Canada, which the stateside industry alleges has been subsidizing the price of timber cut from provincial forestland. During the discussion, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, a Republican, echoed frustrations from U.S. negotiators, suggesting the Canadian government failed to live up to its promise in a memorandum of agreement signed last year.
“We have not seen that willingness to come to the table without some precondition conditions, that were already set in place and were non-negotiable,” Otter said. “I don’t think that credits our willingness that we get together and solve these problems on either side of the border.”
David MacNaughton, the Canadian Ambassador to the U.S., characterized his government’s negotiations with President Barack Obama’s administration as “frustrating,” but added that the two sides have been appearing to make progress in recent months.
“We worked to come to the table with a more flexible approach, but anytime we did, we ended up negotiating with ourselves,” MacNaughton said. “Since January, and the new administration, we have found our engagement to be more productive.”
DESPITE THE encouraging signs, however, the Canadian ambassador also faulted the growth of trade protectionism for complicating the prospects for a new lumber deal. In particular, he said the process has stalled following British Columbia’s election last month, which has set up the possibility of a new majority coalition running the provincial government.
“One of the things that has caused it to be more difficult has been the rhetoric associated with trade, because some of the lumber producers that would have agreed to something before the rhetoric got dialed up, now think that they can get a little bit more because of the rhetoric,” he said. “And as you saw in the B.C. election, whether the rhetoric gets dialed up on your side of the border or whether it gets dialed up on our side of the border, that’s not helpful.”
MacNaughton declined to delve into the specifics of the current trade talks, suggesting instead that those discussions be kept “behind closed doors.”
While he approaches the contentious trade dispute from the perspective of Montana lumber mills, Montana Logging Association Executive Director Keith Olsen, who attended the discussion Wednesday afternoon, agreed that a low public profile would help the conversations move forward.
“They’re both telling their constituents what they want to hear,” he said. “What I hope is behind closed doors, they’re closer to resolving it than what’s being indicated in the press and with the rhetoric.”
Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.