From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   Japan wants NO tariffs on Canadian raw log exports to their country.  That   
   means they get our timber for the same price that we pay for our own timber.    
   And if that happens, our forests are toast.  Everyone gets our trees at   
   Canadian prices.     
      
   And look at who else are 'partners' to the TPP free trade agreement:   
      
   The 12 countries in the TPP, including Canada, are Australia, Brunei, Chile,   
   Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam,   
   and they represent 792 million people with a combined GDP of $28.1 trillion.   
      
   Canada needs to walk away from the TPP.  If Harper can't do it, then Harper   
   has to be taken out of office - Oct 19.   
   ________________________________   
   Macleans/The Canadian Press - July 6, 2015   
      
      
   TPP trade talks: Canada, Japan at impasse over B.C. timber   
      
   'Secret' documents reveal Japan pushing Canada to modify the controls it   
   imposes on B.C. log exports   
      
   OTTAWA -- One of Canada's most protected industries -- British Columbia timber   
   -- has been targeted by Japan in the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade   
   talks, The Canadian Press has learned.   
      
   Japan is pushing Canada to eliminate or modify the controls it imposes on B.C.   
   log exports -- a practice heavily restricted by the federal and provincial   
   governments, and which drives up their cost to foreign buyers.   
      
   Details of the forestry impasse with Japan are contained in documents from   
   Canada's Foreign Affairs department that are marked "secret" and that have   
   been obtained by The Canadian Press.   
      
   Related: What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership?   
      
   The revelation comes as Canada continues to face pressure from another TPP   
   country -- the United States -- which has taken aim at the coveted supply   
   management system that protects the country's dairy and poultry farmers.   
      
   Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Canada would protect its supply   
   management system while pushing ahead with the TPP because he sees it has   
   vital of the country's future economic health.   
      
   Harper has invested much political capital in various free trade talks -- none   
   bigger than the TPP -- as he positions himself as the most reliable steward of   
   the Canadian economy.   
      
   But Canada has another fight on its hands with Japan over B.C. forestry, as it   
   tries to break down trade barriers in that sector in Asia.   
      
   "Canada is pursuing full tariff elimination for the forestry sector -- as you   
   know, tariffs in Malaysia are as high as 40 per cent, as high as 31 per cent   
   in Vietnam and as high as 10 per cent in Japan," says the April briefing note,   
   prepared for a    
   meeting of senior federal trade officials in Ottawa and their provincial   
   counterparts in B.C.   
      
   The memo says talks with Malaysia and Vietnam are progressing well. Not so   
   with Japan, Canada's largest Asian trading partner.   
      
   "Discussions with Japan are ongoing but have been difficult. Japan has very   
   clearly linked the elimination of forestry tariffs to B.C. eliminating or   
   significantly modifying log export controls," the memo says.   
      
   "Our efforts to delink the two continue but are becoming increasingly   
   difficult."   
      
   B.C. exports a small percentage of its logs to foreign markets, including   
   Japan, but must satisfy some strict provincial and federal requirements.   
      
   According to one study last year by the Fraser Institute, the result of that   
   protection scheme is that in 2011, logs sold for $74 per cubic metre on the   
   Vancouver Log Market, while the average price for exports hovered around $108.   
      
   "Although free trade in logs in not the preferred policy from a B.C.   
   perspective, it certainly is from a global perspective," says the institute's   
   June 2014 report on B.C. log policy.   
      
   "Canada is currently in talks to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which   
   includes Japan," the report adds.   
      
   "It is possible that removing all restrictions on log exports as part of a   
   trade agreement could leverage concessions of a similar size that would   
   benefit British Columbia and Canada."   
      
   The report proved prescient, given what is contained in the government's own   
   April memo, which makes clear there's serious negotiating taking place between   
   Japan and Canada on forestry issues.   
      
   "There have been some suggestions from your officials that Canada settle for   
   no tariff reductions from Japan on forestry products in order to protect our   
   log export control regime," the memo says.   
      
   "This is not an acceptable outcome for Canada; it would put our competitors at   
   a permanent advantage in the Japanese market for one of our primary exports."   
      
   A government spokesman declined comment on what has happened at the   
   negotiating table since April.   
      
   With the U.S. Congress recently granting President Barack Obama fast-track   
   authority to negotiate the TPP, there is widespread speculation that the deal   
   could be finalized as early as August.   
      
   However, the deal will have serious domestic political implications for Harper   
   as he seeks his fourth term as prime minister.   
      
   Supply management in sacrosanct in Ontario and Quebec, and so is the forestry   
   sector is in B.C.   
      
   The 12 countries in the TPP, including Canada, are Australia, Brunei, Chile,   
   Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam,   
   and they represent 792 million people with a combined GDP of $28.1 trillion.   
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