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“Those communities and the forestry sector have done a great job improving productivity (and) diversifying their markets,” said the finance minister. “So we’re not as vulnerable as we might have been 15 years ago.”

Still, any new restrictions on access to the U.S. market could have a disproportionate effect on forest-dependent communities in the north and Interior — the very parts of the province lagging behind the nation-leading rates of job creation and growth of the overall B.C. economy.

De Jong was reluctant to speculate about specific actions that might be taken against Canadian softwood by incoming president Donald Trump.

“The rhetoric has certainly been protectionist,” he agreed, “and, we know this for a fact: there are protectionists in the U.S. who have repeatedly sought to deny American consumers access to the best forest products in the world that we produce more efficiently than anyone else. They don’t like the competition and we’re seeing that again.”

For the past 18 months, B.C. has worked with the new national government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep the softwood lumber file at the top of the nation’s priorities in dealings with the U.S.

“As a trade issue it should be number 1, and it should be at the top of the list when Prime Minister Trudeau and soon-to-be-president Trump sit down for their inevitable first discussion,” de Jong added.

The B.C. government was encouraged this week when the prime minister elevated Chrystia Freeland to the highest rank of the cabinet, with dual responsibility for foreign affairs and the North American Free Trade Agreement.