British Columbia Opposition Leader John Rustad has found a carbon tax he likes, proposing such a levy on U.S. thermal coal shipped out of provincial ports as a way to pressure the White House not to impose fresh tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.
Rustad said the tax on U.S. coal could be a “tool to fight back” on softwood tariffs and duties proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has also proposed tariffs on all Canadian exports.
“We need to be able to create the environment to have a deal with the Americans. We can’t carry on like this on softwood lumber,” Rustad said on Monday.
Rustad was ejected from the former BC Liberal party in 2022 after questioning the role of carbon dioxide emissions on climate change and has long been a critic of B.C.’s own carbon tax.
On tariffs, he and the B.C. Conservatives had previously said B.C. should avoid retaliating and instead focus on growing B.C.’s economy.
Duriing question period in the B.C. legislature, Premier David Eby complimented the B.C. Conservative leader for seeking ways to retaliate against the tariff threat, calling it a “significant departure.”
But Eby said taxing U.S. coal travelling through B.C. ports on its way to other export markets would pose major challenges.
“It’s an export good that goes through a federally regulated port, and we can’t place export taxes on products like that,” Eby said.
Idea of taxing coal previously proposed
The idea of taxing thermal coal shipments in response to U.S. tariffs has been floated before in B.C.
In 2017, then-premier Christy Clark proposed a levy adding about $70 per tonne of coal exported through B.C. ports in response to skyrocketing tariffs on softwood lumber exports on B.C.
Clark’s overall response to the softwood lumber dispute was deemed reckless and irresponsible by then-NDP leader John Horgan.
Softwood lumber has been a flash point between Canada and the United States for decades.
The United States has applied anti-dumping and countervailing duties on softwood products, while Canada has taken its arguments to the World Trade Organization and challenged the duties under both NAFTA and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
Last week, Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said combined U.S. duties and tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber could increase to more than 50 per cent.
B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar was in California this week on a trade mission, making the case against tariffs, which would be layered on top of existing softwood lumber duties and could be devastating for B.C.’s already struggling forestry sector. As Katie DeRosa reports, officials in California say Canadian lumber will be key to their wildfire-rebuilding efforts
Rustad distinguished between retaliating against the Americans with tariffs and applying a “graduated carbon tax” that would be increased until B.C. got a softwood lumber deal.
He said 18 million tonnes of U.S. thermal coal was shipped through Vancouver, but the province doesn’t use it.
“Until such time as the unfair and unwarranted American duties on our softwood are removed, we need to be ready to hit the Americans where it hurts,” Rustad said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the governing NDP called for unanimous endorsement for a motion condemning Trump and backing the national plan for “strategically targeted retaliatory action.”
The motion was passed — but not unanimously — in voting late Monday.
Five no votes all came from B.C. Conservative members: Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream’s Tara Armstrong, Vancouver-Quilchena’s Dallas Brodie, Surrey South’s Brent Chapman, Peace River North’s Jordan Kealy and Chilliwack North’s Heather Maahs.
