Trudeau makes "A Huge Mistake" on softwood

[Gone_Fishin]

'A huge mistake:' Money manager slams Ottawa on softwood

Noah Zivitz, Managing Editor, BNN

Video is here: http://www.bnn.ca/a-huge-mistake-money- ... d-1.767103


The federal government's reported plan to extend a round of support to Canada's softwood lumber industry amid a festering trade dispute with the United States is getting a frosty reception from a Toronto-based money manager.

"This is the Liberal government again intervening in the market economy," Baskin Wealth Management President David Baskin told BNN in an interview Thursday. "It's sort of the industrial equivalent of No Child Left Behind."


snip


Baskin is adamant that the Liberals wouldn't help their cause by providing the industry with an aid package.

"The softwood lumber industry was facing the Canadian dollar at par – and above par – and managed," he said. "They've now had essentially a 25-per-cent price increase as a result of the Canadian dollar being at 74 cents US. You would think that would be enough help."

“This undermines the government’s trade case…I think it’s a huge mistake.”

[Jflem1983]

I was disgusted yesterday . To read people in the west were cheering a liberal aid package . Made me throw up in my mouth . Shame on any company taking handouts . Westerners don't take handouts . We give handouts to lazy liberals back east . The bridge to EI

[Gilchy]

To me it helps the trade case: the imposed duties make Canadian lumber non-competitive, forcing government aid. They can argue the removal of the tariff would eliminate the need for government support.

[Veovis]

I think a better option would have been to slap them with a tariff on something as a tit-for-tat type move.

I don't really see what free money really does to make the states not rethink the actions they take.

Although a lot of analysis actually has implied that this will not actually benefit the states overall it just gives Trump the chance to look like he's doing something without really doing something.

[Gone_Fishin]

To me it helps the trade case: the imposed duties make Canadian lumber non-competitive, forcing government aid. They can argue the removal of the tariff would eliminate the need for government support.

I don't think you understand what the basis of the softwood tariff is. It's government subsidization. And to subsidize even more is completely counter-intuitive to the arguments that must be made to have the tariffs revoked by the trade tribunal. Proving financial hardship isn't relevant - disproving government subsidization is. Trudeau did the wrong thing and poured fuel on the Americans' fire. Trudeau, in his defence, only did the one thing he knows how to do, which is throw our money into the wrong places. Substitute drama teachers just aren't up to speed in world trade machinations.

[maryjane48]

I was disgusted yesterday . To read people in the west were cheering a liberal aid package . Made me throw up in my mouth . Shame on any company taking handouts . Westerners don't take handouts . We give handouts to lazy liberals back east . The bridge to EI

well you would really be throwing up if you saw the aid the oil and gas gets . this is minor comparred to that

[jimmy4321]

I was disgusted yesterday . To read people in the west were cheering a liberal aid package . Made me throw up in my mouth . Shame on any company taking handouts . Westerners don't take handouts . We give handouts to lazy liberals back east . The bridge to EI

Where have you been ? "Westerners don't take handouts"

[Queen K]

So this is just a Softwood Lumber thread right?

For a moment there I thought I stumbled into yet another "hate JT" thread. Whewwwww.

[maryjane48]

*removed*

[Rwede]

U.S. softwood lobby assails Ottawa's aid package, calling it a subsidy


STEVEN CHASE AND BRENT JANG
Ottawa and Vancouver — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Jun. 01, 2017 1:36PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Jun. 02, 2017 8:01AM EDT


The American lumber lobby at the heart of the softwood trade dispute is attacking Ottawa’s new $867-million aid package for the Canadian forestry industry as another “government subsidy,” raising the possibility that Washington could impose further punitive duties on producers from Canada.

The Trudeau government unveiled a significant support program for the Canadian softwood industry Thursday to help blunt the pain of American duties on shipments bound for the United States – penalties imposed as the persistent trade dispute with Washington flares up again.

Nearly 70 per cent of the promised federal aid is in the form of loans and loan guarantees that two Crown corporations will extend to forestry companies struggling to cope with a cash crunch caused by the need for duty payments. There are many softwood producers in rural Canada that are critical to the economies of smaller towns and communities.

The federal government insisted the new support does not breach international trade rules because the loans will be made on commercial terms and that the measures “will stand the test of scrutiny.”

This support arrives shortly after punitive U.S. duties began to bite into Canadian softwood producers’ bottom lines. Preliminary countervailing duties were applied effective April 28 and higher penalties are expected in the months ahead.

The U.S. Lumber Coalition, responsible for triggering the softwood lumber dispute, was quick to lash out at the Canadian aid package Thursday, calling it “a new government subsidy for Canadian softwood-lumber producers.”

Coalition executive director Zoltan van Heyningen said the $867-million in aid “only further tilts the trade scale in Canada’s favour, threatening more than 350,000 jobs in communities across the United States.”

Asked if the American lumber lobby will push for higher duties as a result of the aid package, Mr. van Heyningen said that is for the U.S. Department of Commerce to decide. “We will continue to insist on the full enforcement of the trade laws.”

Mark Warner, a Toronto lawyer who previously worked on trade matters for the Ontario government, warned that this sort of financing could very well trigger further retaliatory action from the United States in the form of higher duties.


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/po ... e35176908/

[Queen K]

And what would you be saying if Trudeau unveiled NO support program whatsoever?
"Oh look, selfie-boy doesn't care about Canada and it's softwood lumber issues."

So which one is it? Trudeau didn't listen to his lawyers and brought down American wrath? OR, "Selfie-Boy is going to establish cross ocean trade deals with other nations...ohhh noo."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... -1.4083723

^^Maybe take a look.

And the more the USA punishes Canada, the less softwood their markets get for their freaking rebuilds they need after tornadoes, hurricanes, forest fires and slides damages structures all across their nation. Maybe they simply don't agree that our industries should operate and make a profit too.

[Jflem1983]

And what would you be saying if Trudeau unveiled NO support program whatsoever?
"Oh look, selfie-boy doesn't care about Canada and it's softwood lumber issues."

So which one is it? Trudeau didn't listen to his lawyers and brought down American wrath? OR, "Selfie-Boy is going to establish cross ocean trade deals with other nations...ohhh noo."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... -1.4083723

^^Maybe take a look.

And the more the USA punishes Canada, the less softwood their markets get for their freaking rebuilds they need after tornadoes, hurricanes, forest fires and slides damages structures all across their nation. Maybe they simply don't agree that our industries should operate and make a profit too.

I'd prefer as westerners we stood tall . Without government help . Especially industry

[Gone_Fishin]

And what would you be saying if Trudeau unveiled NO support program whatsoever?
"Oh look, selfie-boy doesn't care about Canada and it's softwood lumber issues."

What would I say? I'd say thank God the government has stopped interfering with the free market by throwing taxpayers' money around, and thank God Trudeau didn't load the Americans' gun full of bullets, take the safety off, and help them aim at Canadian softwood producers. That's what I would say.

[Queen K]

And what would you be saying if Trudeau unveiled NO support program whatsoever?
"Oh look, selfie-boy doesn't care about Canada and it's softwood lumber issues."

What would I say? I'd say thank God the government has stopped interfering with the free market by throwing taxpayers' money around, and thank God Trudeau didn't load the Americans' gun full of bullets, take the safety off, and help them aim at Canadian softwood producers. That's what I would say.

As if softwood lumber is the only industry benefitting from government subsidies.
Why not just go after all of them?

And it's going to come down to a matter of belief isn't it? Either like your scenerio, JT assisted with loading the very gun shooting at our industry or Trump and his anti-NAFTA rants and threats were coming after softwood export practices anyways. Which one is it?

[Queen K]

http://business.financialpost.com/news/ ... ood-lumber