The accumulated U.S. duties paid by Canadian softwood producers since 2017 are now valued at more than US$7.2-billion.

Canada’s lumber industry is warning of a crisis as the B.C. government and Ottawa prepare for a softwood summit to discuss the long-standing trade dispute with the United States.

The BC Lumber Trade Council, the Forest Products Association of Canada, the Canadian Lumber Trade Alliance and the Independent Wood Processors Association of British Columbia are among the groups sounding the alarm about sawmills operating at below break-even levels.

The 2006 Canada-U.S. softwood agreement expired in October, 2015. In the latest round of the trade dispute, Canadian producers have been paying U.S. lumber duties since April, 2017.

“It has been 10 years since the last softwood lu

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