Before we start. All my writing is from me only. I never write on behalf of Hancock Lumber. Hancock Lumber does not have opinions. Only the 750 people who work at Hancock Lumber have those and they are all important. All voices matter, not just the ones that we agree with. And now, here is my post:
The other day someone asked me, “How’s the trade war with Canada going to impact the lumber business?”
My initial reply was, “what trade war with Canada?”
You see, I checked out on all of America’s unproductive tariffs and trade wars a while ago. I don’t like any of them. I have things I aspire to do in this lifetime and a trade war with Canada is not on the list.
What is wrong with us when we are fighting with Canada?
Seriously! No one fights with Canada.
China does not fight with Canada.
Russia does not fight with Canada.
North Korea does not fight with Canada.
Iran does not fight with Canada.
Everyone likes Canada.
Just America is fighting with Canada.
And let us call it what it is…
Just Donald Trump is fighting with Canada.
When I heard there was a trade war with Canada, I investigated despite my disinterest. What I saw next was a video of Donald Trump holding a map of the Great Lakes. He then took a black marker and crossed out Lake Ontario and wrote in Lake America. All by himself – like he alone gets to name lakes and that the best use of his time is to do so. At that moment I said aloud to myself, “Enough.”
Renaming lakes to spite our neighbor is not the optimal use of a President’s time nor is it befitting of the role. Throwing tariffs on Canada like softballs at a county fair is also not productive. In fact, it hurts America. It makes us, and the planet, worse off.
And then there is the way we are going about it – which feels mean to me. Even if we did want to achieve targeted trade restructuring with Canada being mean to Canadians should not be a part of the recipe.
Years ago, my cousin Tom Hancock was the director of the alternative education program at Lake Region High School. This school was for kids who struggled mightily in the traditional high school structure. These were kids who did not do well with rules. For the entire school Tom had only one rule: “Don’t be mean.”
And, in case you were wondering, this trade war with Canada is bad for Hancock Lumber. Our mills sell lumber to Canada. Our stores buy lumber from Canada. We purchase equipment from Canada. We have great business friends, suppliers, customers, and partners in Canada. This trade war with Canada does hurt our business, state, and industry.
Canada is amazing. Canadians are amazing. Enough.
