Canada is pivoting to China in the wake of Trump’s tariffs on lumber, with British Columbia signing a new MOU on modern wood construction, a move the province said will open new markets as duties and tariffs squeeze exporters out of the U.S.
Announced yesterday, the five‑year, non‑binding agreement, signed by B.C.’s Forests Ministry, Natural Resources Canada and China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban‑Rural Development, commits both countries to exchanges and joint research on tall‑wood and mass‑timber construction and is one of the first agreements struck following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s arrival in Beijing, the first visit by a Canadian prime minister since 2017.
Wood Central understands the MOU focuses on integrating modern wood construction into China’s urban renewal and rural revitalisation strategies, while exploring “practical approaches” to green development. For B.C., the hope is that deeper technical collaboration will open the door for more processed lumber and engineered‑wood products to enter the Chinese market at scale.
According to Juliet Lu, a University of British Columbia political ecologist and China scholar, the MOU is “relatively low‑hanging fruit” in Carney’s effort to rebuild trade with Beijing, especially compared with thornier issues such as Canadian tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles or China’s levies on Canadian canola. Even so, she said the potential upside for B.C. is significant, given China’s long reliance on carbon‑intensive concrete and steel for its high‑rise construction boom.
“(Chinese construction) is shifting away from mass production into moments when demand for different types of building structures is growing,” Lu said. “Past years of work on opening regulations to wood‑frame construction have allowed for that. Plus, we have these new technologies of engineered wood that allow for building bigger buildings, like what we see in China, with wood construction. So, I think there isa great possibility (for opportunity).”
Juliet Lu on the potential for British Columbia to grow it’s trade of higher value engineered wood products in China.
As reported by the Canadian Press, the MOU calls for strengthening an “industrial chain” for wood construction, including tall‑wood buildings and mass‑timber projects. Lu noted that China has already opened regulations to allow larger wood buildings in Beijing, Shanghai and Haikou, a shift that aligns with B.C.’s push to expand its higher‑value engineered‑wood exports.
“Right now, our exports to China are dominated more by lower value products, things like pulp that goes into paper and things like unprocessed logs, which we really want to upgrade from,” she said. “So, any shifts in China’s market demand for Canadian timber are going to have a huge impact on the Canadian market, even if it looks like a drop in the barrel for the Chinese market.”
According to Ravi Parmer, B.C.’s Forests Minister, the agreement is part of a new effort to diversify from the U.S., where tariffs have placed pressure on B.C.’s forestry supply chain. “The tariffs imposed by (U.S. President) Donald Trump have had a significant impact on B.C.’s – and Canada’s – forestry sector,” Parmar said. “That’s why we are exploring other markets to create new and strengthen existing partnerships to stabilise and diversify the sector.”
The MOU comes as B.C. increasingly turns to Asia to grow exports of engineered‑wood products. Last year, Wood Central reported that Parmar led a trade delegation to Japan and South Korea, resulting in several trade agreements, whilst Premier David Eby is currently in India, where he is looking to establish new partnerships to trade lumber.
- To learn why Canada is looking to global markets to increase production of mass timber six‑fold over the next 20 years, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from June 2024.
