April 4, 2009
NDP forest critic Bob Simpson today revealed that the NDP want to declare a trade war with B.C.’s biggest trading partner, the U.S.
It was reported today that Simpson told a Kelowna audience that B.C. should enact forest policies that he admits would provoke trade sanctions from the U.S., damage B.C.’s most important trading relationship, and put forestry jobs at risk.
More than half of all of B.C.’s exports is with the U.S. and the NDP think the best way to build our economy is to pick a fight? Talk about reckless and incompetent. But it’s not surprising considering the NDP also want to rip up the Softwood Lumber Agreement.
B.C.’s forest industry and entire economy needs free, open trade:
- Last year, 53 per cent of B.C. exports went to the U.S. Our next largest trading partner is Japan, which gets 15 per cent of B.C. exports.
- This trade relationship is more important to our forestry industry than any other industry. B.C. exported over $10 billion in wood, pulp and paper products last year. Of that, $5.7 billion was to the United States – that’s over 30 per cent of our total commodity exports.
- B.C. needs to develop relationships with emerging markets in the Asia Pacific like China, Korea and India. What would they think of the NDP’s call to pick a trade fight with the U.S.?
- The Softwood Lumber Agreement with the U.S. brings stability and certainty to our forest industry. It returned $2.4 billion in U.S. duties and keeps B.C. companies from paying duties in excess of 40 per cent.
This isn't the first time the NDP have revealed their anti-trade beliefs. NDP critic for Intergovernmental Relations Michael Sather has suggested Canada get out of NAFTA and has also openly opposed the trade and labour mobility agreement with Alberta that is creating 78,000 jobs in B.C. alone.
Over the last eight years, the BC Liberal government has worked to build stronger trading relationships with the U.S. and the Asia Pacific. The NDP’s anti-trade policies would damage those ties, put people out of work, and drive up costs to industry. It’s reckless, incompetent, and just plain bad economic policy.
