00:00For this lumber company in Canada's British Columbia, U.S. tariff hikes are already a reality.
00:08This is Jeremy Griffin, site manager at the Gorman Group Sawmill.
00:12Being a Canadian right now, it's a very interesting time to be a Canadian.
00:16He says he's been fielding questions from employees about their finances.
00:20Is now a good time? We wanted to do this thing. We wanted to buy that RV or we were looking at changing from renting to buying a place to live.
00:28Canada's softwood lumber industry is grappling with its future after the U.S. announced duties would be raised to just over 34%.
00:36Previously, it was just over 14%.
00:39Some sawmills have already cut shifts for their employees.
00:45The government says Canada is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of softwood lumber.
00:51This is going to have a huge impact on our industry and certainly on our company.
00:55We rely heavily on the U.S. market.
00:59Nick Arkell is the CEO of Gorman Group.
01:02The company specializes in high-end wood, often used in the American home building and renovation market.
01:09About 55% of our volume would actually go to the U.S., but it would be more than likely about 70% of our value.
01:17Arkell says the company sells to 38 countries around the world at lesser volumes than the U.S.
01:22and will now be looking elsewhere.
01:25Demand for housing is increasing all the time.
01:29Demand for affordable housing is increasing all the time.
01:32So I feel there is going to be a demand for wood that's going to exceed the supply of it in the future.
01:40And that's going to be a North American issue.
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01:55We aim to exceed the benefits of the program.
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