WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has joined the House Lumber Trade Caucus as an original member.  One of the goals of the Caucus is to fight for the enforcement of U.S. trade laws and forestry-related trade agreements, such as the U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement (SCA).

“While our timber industry is facing hardships from a lot of directions, the very least we should be doing is enforcing the laws and agreements we already have in place to protect them from abuse,” said Rehberg.  “The Lumber Trade Caucus lets me work with colleagues to build a coalition so we can get this issue solved more quickly.”
 
Many Montana lumber companies believe that the U.S. isn’t enforcing the U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement, and in particular, that British Columbia is blatantly ignoring it.  To date, the federal government hasn’t taken action to rectify the situation, leaving our producers to fend for themselves in a regulatory environment that undermines their ability to compete.

U.S. lumber producers have long argued that Canada subsidizes its lumber producers with low provincial stumpage fees for the right to harvest trees.

“Montana’s forest products companies are very appreciative of Congressman Rehberg’s membership in the newly founded House Lumber Trade Caucus,” said Chuck Roady, Vice President and General Manager of Stoltze Land and Lumber Company.  “Denny understands that, in order to keep companies like ours employing Montanans, we need to enforce the Softwood Lumber Agreement between the U.S. and Canada.  Denny’s efforts to help the struggling wood products industry are especially critical at this point in time, and it sends a powerful message to the U.S. Trade Representative that he must enforce the terms of the SLA.  We thank Congressman Rehberg for his continued support of our industry.”