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  "path": "/b-c-wants-billions-for-forestry-if-talks-fail",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-30T21:35:54.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.narcity.com",
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nBritish Columbia's forests minister says he expects billions in additional federal support for the timber sector if future trade talks with the United States don't benefit the softwood lumber industry.\n\nRavi Parmer says B.C. will use every opportunity to remind Ottawa that the pending renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA, must include forestry.\n\nIf it doesn't, he says the province expects Ottawa to double or even triple the more than $2 billion in supports it has provided the sector nationwide since last August.\n\nParmar says federal negotiators \"must recognize that if they are unsuccessful\" addressing U.S. duties and tariffs on timber, B.C. will need help.\n\nThe minister says his province won't be afraid to ask for more money to diversify the industry and help workers.\n\nHe says Ottawa has been a strong partner so far and he is optimistic that the federal government will address CUSMA in a way that includes forestry.\n\n\"But if they are unable to address this issue, then absolutely, they are going to have to step up and invest more dollars, and I would expect that is in the billions,\" he says.\n\nU.S. duties and tariffs on softwood lumber add up to around 45 per cent, but the U.S. Department of Commerce has hinted that this might be dropping by 10 per cent in late summer.\n\nThis report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2026.\n\n_By Wolfgang Depner | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved._",
  "title": "B.C. wants billions for forestry if talks fail"
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