The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that the weak loonie makes everything cheaper for Canadian lumber producers compared with United States rivals. The Globe's Barrie McKenna writes that Canadian lumber producers revenues are logged in U.S. dollars, swelling profits. For the first time since 2006, the U.S. border is wide open to Canadian lumber. An agreement that limited U.S.-bound exports expired in October. In the first full month after the deal's demise, Canada shipped 1.3 billion board feet of lumber to the U.S., 33 per cent more than in November, 2014. As a result, the U.S. lumber industry is girding for a trade fight. The low loonie gives the U.S. industry all the incentive it needs to play hardball --- as it has done every time the Canadian dollar has taken a dive in recent decades. The U.S. slapped steep duties on Canadian lumber in the mid-1980s, and again in the early 2000s, periods when the loonie was similarly cheap. "2016 promises to be a very difficult year for the softwood lumber industry," warns industry consultant Doug Smyth. A low dollar exaggerates the divergence between timber costs in the two countries, providing the justification for allegations of unfair subsidies.