Forests Minister Ravi Parmar heads to Asia to boost B.C. lumber trade, targeting new deals amid U.S. tariffs and local industry struggles.
Parmar Heads to Asia to Boost B.C. Lumber Trade
British Columbia’s Forests Minister Ravi Parmar is on a mission literally. In a determined push to keep the province’s forestry sector thriving, Parmar has embarked on an eight-day trade trip across Asia, aiming to spark new partnerships for B.C.’s wood products.
Speaking from Tokyo, Parmar didn’t mince words about why mills back home have been closing. “These closures aren’t about provincial policy,” he said. “They’re about U.S. tariffs the result of Donald Trump’s aggressive trade tactics against our forestry workers.”
According to Parmar, those tariffs some as high as 45 percent have made selling to the U.S. nearly impossible. “When your biggest buyer becomes your biggest barrier, it’s time to diversify,” he added.
Critics Say It’s Not Just About Tariffs
Not everyone agrees with the minister’s take. Ward Stamer, the B.C. Conservative forests critic, argues that government red tape has done just as much damage as foreign tariffs.
“For years, we’ve been drowning in regulations,” Stamer told Black Press Media. “It’s not just Trump’s fault it’s this government’s reluctance to change policy.”
Both Parmar and Stamer acknowledge that recent mill closures, including West Fraser’s site in 100 Mile House, stem from companies struggling to access affordable timber. Even though all seven of the company’s permit applications were approved within 25 days, the available wood simply wasn’t profitable enough to harvest.
New Deals in Japan and South Korea
Parmar’s trade tour includes Japan and South Korea, where he’s joined by First Nations leaders and industry representatives. Japan already ranks as B.C.’s second-largest lumber market, purchasing $887 million worth of products in 2024. Still, that’s small compared to the U.S., which imported nearly $4.5 billion in softwood lumber that same year.
But there’s good news. Parmar has already secured new memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Asian companies interested in buying B.C. wood. He hopes these early wins will pave the way for long-term trade growth.
Balancing Forestry and Environmental Protection
While Parmar promotes trade abroad, he’s also defending B.C.’s environmental record at home. A recent Sierra Club report accused the province of putting timber profits above forest protection. Parmar disagrees, noting that old-growth logging has dropped more than 50 percent since 2021.
“It’s a clear downward trend,” he said, pointing to the success of old-growth deferrals.
The Sierra Club, however, argues that many of those protected areas were already in the pipeline and that logging still happens four times more often in high-risk old-growth zones than in safer areas.
Calls for Smarter Forestry Solutions
Stamer isn’t against trade diversification but insists that the provincial government needs to help companies get more value out of every tree.
For example, he said, forcing companies to build bridges instead of fish culverts on certain roads can increase costs by up to ten times. He also believes B.C. should make better use of burnt and scrap timber turning waste into biomass energy instead of letting it go up in smoke.
“If I were forests minister,” Stamer said, “I’d make sure we’re grinding up that leftover fibre to generate electricity, just like our pulp mills do.”
A Turning Point for B.C.’s Forestry Future
Despite the criticism, Parmar remains focused on the bigger picture: reducing reliance on the U.S. market and opening new global opportunities.
“The world still wants B.C. wood,” he said confidently. “We just have to make sure they can get it.”
As B.C.’s forestry sector faces one of its toughest chapters yet, the outcome of Parmar’s Asian trade mission could shape the industry’s future one timber deal at a time.
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