The long-running softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the U.S. has taken a turn, with Ottawa backing away from two legal battles over duties dating back to 2017 and 2019.

The federal government says it’s a strategic move to help negotiate a broader trade deal, but some producers in B.C. — Canada’s largest softwood-producing province — say they’re the ones left paying the price.

While many in the lumber industry are happy to see the federal government get involved, they hope to see more action with current U.S. duties as a review into the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) looms.

But in the present, local lumber distributors are facing many unknowns, as U.S. duties have risen by 20 percentage points in the last six weeks.

“We are not fighting over the terms of the last

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