As Trump tariffs debated, Canada company makes good on $123 million Mississippi investment

Southeastern Timber Products announced this week it is investing $123.4 million to expand its operations in Ackerman, which could create as many as 40 jobs.
Southeastern Timber Products is a family-owned-and-operated manufacturer of southern yellow pine lumber, timber and decking products. The company is expanding its Ackerman sawmill to increase production capacity from 120 million board feet per year to 300 million board feet per year. To facilitate the project, Southeastern Timber Products will install a new sawmill line, new dry kilns and storage facilities.
Southeastern Timber Products has a joint venture partnership with Tolko Industries Ltd., a company based in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada.
One of the largest Canadian investments in Mississippi, Tolko has embarked on what will ultimately be a $150 million investment in the STP lumber mill that was announced in 2022. Under the banner of Southeastern Timber Products LLC, the project is a joint venture with STP Holdings, LLC.
'Today's announcement enables us to further invest in our people, customers and local community," said David Manley, Tolko Industries U.S. Ltd. vice president. "We greatly appreciate the Mississippi government's support of all strategic investments that will help us by continuing to grow STP's capacity to 300 million board feet per year.'
The news comes at a time President Donald J. Trump wants to sign an executive order introducing a 25% tariff on all goods coming from Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on goods from China. The order on China went into effect on Tuesday, while the orders on Canada and and Mexico have been put on hold as of Wednesday.
Canada is Mississippi's largest trading partner and Mississippi would likely feel negative impacts from a 25% tariff on all goods coming from Canada. There also would likely be some reactionary impacts on goods that are exported from Mississippi to Canada.
What's next:Trump takes aim at largest MS trading partner. See impact on proposed tariffs with Canada
More jobs:New company bringing 250 jobs to Mississippi. Get the details
Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance through the Mississippi Flexible Tax Incentive, or MFLEX, program. Choctaw County also is assisting with the project.
The 40 new jobs are expected to come to fruition within the next two years.
'This project not only strengthens Southeastern Timber's long-term relationship with Mississippi, it also brings 40 new opportunities to the people of Choctaw County and the surrounding area," said Bill Cork, Mississippi Development Authority executive director, in a statement. "This $123.4 million investment will enhance the company's operations and encourage future growth, both of which benefit the local workforce and economy for generations. MDA appreciates the Southeastern Timber team for once again choosing Mississippi to continue the company's legacy of producing top-quality lumber, timber and wood products.'
Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

16 minutes ago

• Yahoo

US tractor slump continues as Canada sales rise

This story was originally published on Manufacturing Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Manufacturing Dive newsletter. U.S. sales of tractors and combines continued to decline in May as farm equipment manufacturers faced economic headwinds related to tariffs and rising input costs. The total number of two-wheel- and four-wheel-drive tractors sold during the month declined 11.9% from last year to 21,192, according to recent U.S. data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. That marked a difference of 2,864 units. Meanwhile, markets in Canada are experiencing a turnaround as the country distributes payments to farmers who adopt sustainable practices. Regional sales up 35.7% year-to-date for four-wheel-drive tractors. U.S. tractor manufacturers have struggled with sales in recent years. Deere & Co., the world's largest farm equipment maker, reported a 30% year-over-year drop in net income to $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2024, due to market challenges as farmer incomes shrank. In response, Deere and competitors have slowed production to align with weaker demand, slashing factory jobs and reducing hours of operation. As tariffs inject more uncertainty and volatility into the market, Deere Chairman and CEO John May said in an earnings call last month that the company is performing better than expected and is hopeful U.S. sales will begin to rebound this year after a sluggish start. From January to May, U.S. sales were down 12.8% over last year to 80,332 tractors, according to the AEM. Meanwhile, 957 fewer combines were sold in the period, a decline of 43.3% over last year. 'This continued slump of U.S. tractor and combine sales reflects broader challenges in the ag economy,' Curt Blades, senior vice president of the AEM, said in a statement. 'High interest rates, global trade uncertainty and increased input prices are causing farmers to delay major equipment purchases.' As for markets in Canada, a rebound is already happening. Combine sales, for example, were up 15.7% in May over last year. Additionally, two-wheel- and four-wheel-drive tractors are slightly higher year-to-date. Earlier this year, Canada's government announced $35.3 million in payments to farmers who adopt sustainable farming practices, including efforts to reduce herbicide use and improve soil management. Some of the newer tractors on the market have digital monitoring systems to help farmers adopt more sustainable, cost-effective practices. 'We're encouraged by the strong performance in the Canadian market and remain hopeful that overall conditions will improve as the planting season progresses,' May added. Recommended Reading US tractor sales continue to fall amid trade concerns

Hamilton Spectator

23 minutes ago

• Hamilton Spectator

Canada signs new security and defence partnership with Europe

BRUSSELS - Canada and the European Union opened a new era of transatlantic co-operation Monday with the official signing of a security and defence partnership at a joint summit in Brussels. The agreement commits Canada and Europe to collaboration on defence and is a step toward Canada participating in the continent's massive new defence procurement program, known as ReArm Europe. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who travelled to Brussels for the Canada-EU Summit, is pursuing more options for defence procurement as Canada seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States. Carney met with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the summit, before the final deal was signed. Costa said Canada and the EU are 'looking at the world through the same lens' and this meeting has taken the partnership to a new level. Von der Leyen told Carney he was 'here among friends.' She said Canada and the EU are two strong democracies bound by historic ties and connected by a 'dynamic, fair and open' trade partnership. She said the EU wants not just to reaffirm the friendship and partnership with Canada but also to reshape it. She said the agreement is the 'most comprehensive' ever completed. 'We know we can count on you and you can count on us,' she said. Carney said the leaders are putting into practice some of what they discussed at the G7 and have been working on for years. Carney said the deal is crucial for Canada and 'shows a way forward.' Under the terms of the agreement, Canada and the EU will hold an annual 'security and defence dialogue' involving top officials. The agreement also commits both partners to expanding co-operation in support of Ukraine, improving Canadian military mobility in Europe and enhancing maritime co-operation in regions of 'mutual interest' like the Indo-Pacific. Canada will need to sign a second agreement with the European Commission before it can take part in the 150-billion-euro ReArm Europe initiative. The security and defence agreement also pledges further collaboration on emerging issues in cybersecurity, foreign interference, disinformation and outer space policy. Carney also met with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever ahead of the Canada-EU Summit. De Wever said that Canada's partnership with the EU is vital now because 'we've woken up in a world that doesn't look that friendly anymore.' A government official briefing reporters on the trip said the partnership is expected to make procurement easier and more affordable, while also allowing Canada to diversify its sources of equipment. On Tuesday, Carney travels to The Hague for the NATO summit, where member nations will decide whether to fully endorse a substantial increase in the defence spending target, from two per cent of GDP to five per cent. Carney said earlier this month Canada would increase its defence spending this year to meet the two per cent target for the first time since it was established in 2014. This report was first published by The Canadian Press on Jun 23, 2025.

The Hill

31 minutes ago

• The Hill

Trump's 50 percent aluminum, steel tariffs will create new American manufacturing jobs

At the G-7 meetings in Canada last week, President Trump reaffirmed his commitment to put American manufacturing workers first. Our president previously told thousands of steel workers in Pennsylvania that 'we are going to bring it from 25 percent to 50 percent' the tariffs 'to further secure' domestic steel and aluminum manufacturing. Trump keeps telling Prime Minister Mark Carney that 'we really don't want Canadian steel and we don't want Canadian aluminum because we want to be able to do it ourselves.' As Trump's chief of staff during his first term, I travelled with him across our great country and saw firsthand his commitment to rebuild manufacturing communities that had been hollowed out by foreign countries engaging in unfair trade practices. Upon reassuming office, Trump moved swiftly to sign new Section 232 national security proclamations and most recently increased the tariffs from 25 percent to 50 percent to stop American aluminum and steel workers getting ripped off. While the targeted tariffs were met with hysteria by the left-wing media and Canadian backed special interest groups, American manufacturing workers reacted with joy. In my home state of North Carolina, we have seen firsthand what happens when foreign producers take aim at American manufacturing. Aluminum, steel, furniture and textile manufacturing have been devastated by foreign government subsidized cheap products imported into the United States. Families suffer and jobs are lost and most of those jobs, sadly, will never return. Now globalist elites that are heavily funded by non-U.S. interest groups are pushing for Canada to get an exemption or an alternative agreement to avoid the Section 232 aluminum tariff. Canada's aluminum industry must not be rewarded at the expense of thousands of American aluminum jobs. The Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation has reported on Canada's subsidization of its electricity industry for the benefit of its aluminum producers. The simple reality is that the Canadian government provides significant subsidies to its aluminum industry, in the form of cheap electricity. Canada handed out over $850 million in subsidies to its aluminum industry. Here in the United States, domestic producers purchase electricity in accordance with free market principles. During my time at the White House, Canadian aluminum imports surged by 47 percent by mid-2020 after Canada was granted a tariff exemption a year prior. The Canadian aluminum surge devastated American manufacturing families and led to the closure of three U.S. aluminum smelter. Seven hundred American aluminum workers lost their jobs in Washington state, 400 aluminum workers lost their jobs in Missouri and 600 aluminum workers lost their jobs in Kentucky. At the time, President Biden could have used the mechanisms in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement we negotiated to reimpose relief and stop the bleeding after the first smelter closed. Instead, Biden under pressure from the same globalist groups, allowed the Canadian government and industry to keep their exemption and siphon off American jobs. We cannot allow history to repeat itself. Now in 2025, the globalist aluminum associations and their foreign proxies are once again saying there must be zero tariffs on Canadian aluminum and peddling the same sky-is-falling rhetoric they used previously about Trumps' targeted aluminum and steel tariffs. The sad reality is that these globalist special interest groups are more interested in lining the pockets of their members with foreign plants rather than putting American manufacturing workers first. In 2000, there were 23 U.S. aluminum smelters and 10 in Canada. Today, there are still 10 aluminum smelters in Canada thanks to the Canadian government's subsidies and only four aluminum plants remaining in the United States, a staggering 82 percent reduction in U.S. production capacity. Any exemption or special deal for Canadian aluminum will likely destroy the rest of our domestic industry and result in thousands of American jobs lost. Our president is right, the U.S. is 'done subsidizing Canada' and no exemptions for countries that have a track record of not playing by the rules. The president is not fighting for foreign countries like Canada and Mexico that rip us off on trade, he is fighting for you, your family's future and millions of American manufacturing workers. With over $14 billion in new U.S. investment announced, Trump's 50 percent aluminum and steel tariffs address the root cause of the cheating and unleash a new Golden Age for our country. Now is the time to cast aside the loud voices of these radical globalist special interest groups that seek to undermine Trump's trade agenda. Mark Meadows served as the 29th White House chief of staff and as a member of Congress for North Carolina's 11th District from 2013 to 2020.