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The Softwood Lumber War: Politics, economics, and the long U.S.–Canadian trade dispute

The continuous friction for more than two centuries in softwood lumber trade between Canada and the United States only keeps escalating. The reason for the prolonged battle in the softwood lumber trade is the huge economic value of the bilateral lumber trade, the size of the lumber markets in both countries, and the adverse impact of one country’s policies on the other country’s lumber market. Lumber trade between the two countries is valued at US$7.0 billion annually. The United States is the largest producer, importer, and thus, user of lumber. Canada is the second largest producer but not a major user of lumber, and hence, is the leading exporter. Consequently, any domestic policies, trade policies, or exogenous shocks (e.g. strong housing market expansion) have significant impact on the lumber markets in both countries. Furthermore, if one country’s policies adversely affect the lumber producers in the other country, the injured party wants its government to enact retaliatory protective measures. Given this backdrop, this book by Dr Zhang is very timely and comprehensive. The author has spent more than a decade working on this important topic, which he demonstrates by capturing the various intricacies of this complex, contentious, and explosive topic. Dr Zhang weaves through this complicated and intense lumber trade battle with careful attention to the details by taking into account all the historical, political, legal, and economic issues. This book will be of great interest to academics in forestry, economics, natural resources, and other fields. It will be also an excellent reference book for students of the lumber trade in general, and the US– Canadian lumber dispute in particular; timber growers and lumber producers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers (e.g. home building supply stores) in the United States and Canada; government agencies and policy makers (e.g. USDOC, ITC, USTR, and USDA in the United States and central and provincial agencies in Canada dealing with forestry); lawyers and litigators working in the lumber dispute; and trade negotiators on the NAFTA and WTO panels. The first chapter sets the stage to cover political, economic, policy, and legal issues surrounding this long-running trade dispute. It introduces to the The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development Vol. 18, No. 1, March 2009, 197–203