A small Canadian real estate board is asking U.S. Realtors for support in the ongoing Canada/U.S. softwood lumber dispute.

B.C. Northern Real Estate Board president Ev Vroon recently posted the plea on the National Association of Realtors' executive officer chatroom. The note said, in part: "We are a real estate board in the northern part of British Columbia, Canada. Although our membership is small (330 members), we service a huge geographical area (we think it is three times the size of the State of Michigan).

"The primary industry of the 250,000 people who reside in this area is forestry. Since early this year, when the Softwood Lumber Agreement between Canada and the USA expired, many of the forestry work force have seen their jobs disappear -- primarily because of duties and tariffs as high as 32 per cent...We will not try to explain the many issues that are involved, but suffice it to say, real estate has been adversely affected. Foreclosures are at record levels, causing homeowners to suffer, prices have fallen dramatically, thereby equity has evaporated, and with little hope for future employment, buyers are non-existent."

Vroon says: "As this trade dispute has affected all Realtors in northern B.C., we are asking you, our fellow Realtors, to help by bringing this issue to the attention of your federal politicians. The free enterprise system that we all enjoy has been threatened by the intervention of some very influential lumber interests in the USA, and as Realtors, we must get involved."

Vroon's note was answered by Russell Riggs, an environmental policy specialist in NAR's Regulatory and Industry Relations Division in Washington, D.C. He said: "We have been monitoring this controversial issue over the past year and will continue to do so. In addition, the issue has been a topic of discussion among members at several of our meetings. At this writing, NAR has not taken a position on the imposition of tariffs on Canada's softwood lumber imports and our members have not directed us to take any action at the federal level. As the issue evolves, I am certain that additional discussions will take place."

The Washington-based National Association of Home Builders strongly supports Canada's position in the dispute. In a statement issued November 5, Bobby Rayburn, vice-president/secretary of the NAHB, says: "Any way you look at it -- from a consumer standpoint, from an industry standpoint and from an economic standpoint -- the Commerce Department's anti-dumping duties totaling 32 per cent on Canadian lumber shipments into the U.S. is bad trade policy, bad economic policy and would act as a hidden tax on American home buyers, renters and consumers."

Rayburn says the tariff could add up to $1,500 to the cost of an average new home in the United States, and that it "could effectively prevent an additional 450,000 American households from being able to qualify for a home mortgage. Higher lumber costs also translate into higher costs for renters and homeowners seeking to remodel their homes."

Canada exported about $10 billion worth of software lumber to the United States in 2000, representing about one-third of the U.S. market, but the countries have been bickering about lumber duties for years. American lumber producers say that Canada's softwood is unfairly subsidized by low provincial stumpage fees, which is the royalty charged on timber taken from Crown lands. Most of the U.S. lumber is harvested from privately-owned lands.

After talks for a negotiated settlement of the dispute appeared to bog down, Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew recently asked the World Trade Organization to appoint a panel to hear Canada's complaint against the U.S. In previous disputes, the WTO has always sided with Canada's position.

But all the high-level negotiations and hearings are of little comfort to the residents and Realtors in Northern B.C. About 15,000 forestry workers have been laid off, primarily because of the ongoing dispute.

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Published: January 31, 2002

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Jim Adair is editor of REM: Canada's Real Estate Magazine, a business publication for real estate agents and brokers. He has been writing about Canadian real estate, home building and renovation issues for more than 30 years. You can contact Jim at .