Trade minister courts China as US announces duties on Canadian lumber
With Canada and the United States at war over softwood lumber, the Liberal government decided the time was right to look eastward for a new customer: China.
The prime minister announced the decision after a meeting with the Chinese premier.
Sound familiar?
It happened in September 2005, between Liberal prime minister Paul Martin and Hu Jintao, then the most powerful person in China. A year later, Canada and the U.S. signed the softwood truce that kept the peace until Monday, when the Trump administration announced duties of up to 24 per cent on Canadian lumber imports.
On Tuesday, International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne was in Beijing with a coterie of Canadian softwood lumber industry players in his entourage. Well aware of the latest escalation in the dispute, he said his visit to China would help find much-needed new markets for Canadian wood.
"This is caused by a protectionist industry in the U.S.," Champagne said in an interview. "My answer to that is we are looking at all sorts of options to obviously support our industry.
"If our industry becomes more diversified, that's going to help, and we won't find ourselves in the same position going forward."
Champagne said Canada's pitch is resonating in China because softwood is an environmentally friendly building material that can satisfy a need for more housing without driving up greenhouse gas emissions.
"There's an imperative in China to have more green building material. That's exactly what we're here for," he said, adding that Canada and China are teaming up to battle one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change.
Trade minister courts China as US announces duties on Canadian lumber - Politics - CBC News
With Canada and the United States at war over softwood lumber, the Liberal government decided the time was right to look eastward for a new customer: China.
The prime minister announced the decision after a meeting with the Chinese premier.
Sound familiar?
It happened in September 2005, between Liberal prime minister Paul Martin and Hu Jintao, then the most powerful person in China. A year later, Canada and the U.S. signed the softwood truce that kept the peace until Monday, when the Trump administration announced duties of up to 24 per cent on Canadian lumber imports.
On Tuesday, International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne was in Beijing with a coterie of Canadian softwood lumber industry players in his entourage. Well aware of the latest escalation in the dispute, he said his visit to China would help find much-needed new markets for Canadian wood.
"This is caused by a protectionist industry in the U.S.," Champagne said in an interview. "My answer to that is we are looking at all sorts of options to obviously support our industry.
"If our industry becomes more diversified, that's going to help, and we won't find ourselves in the same position going forward."
Champagne said Canada's pitch is resonating in China because softwood is an environmentally friendly building material that can satisfy a need for more housing without driving up greenhouse gas emissions.
"There's an imperative in China to have more green building material. That's exactly what we're here for," he said, adding that Canada and China are teaming up to battle one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change.
Trade minister courts China as US announces duties on Canadian lumber - Politics - CBC News
