The quality of the product is why people want to turn to Canada, especially in the U.S. on the homebuilding side. You want to build with northern Canadian-grown softwood lumber because it's not going to warp. You want to frame your home with that stuff. You don't want southern yellow pine that you're going to throw onto a train in Tallahassee and that's going to be warped by the time it gets to Denver.
We have a natural advantage. This is also why the 6% market share we've lost since 2017 was lost to Sweden, Finland and Austria. We didn't lose it to the United States. Do you remember how lumber prices through the pandemic were skyrocketing? Even in that environment, the U.S. couldn't meaningfully increase their capacity. They could mow down every national park, but they don't have the boots on the ground. They don't have the mill capacity.
I don't want to be too cute here in saying this, but that's what's very frustrating. They actually need us, and they're filling the gap now by buying European wood. I'm not sure how that's in the best interests of North American prosperity and security.
