By BEX Staff for AZBEX
Despite extensive lobbying from construction trade groups, the Biden Administration has no plans to cut U.S. tariffs on Canadian lumber as part of its efforts to fight inflation.
The administration is considering reducing or eliminating tariffs on some other products, notably a range of Chinese goods, but no decision is expected for at least another week.
Most Canadian lumber is subject to a duty of 11.64%, which has been one contributor to high prices for building materials, particularly in residential construction.
In a June 21st article, Reuters quoted U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as saying, “To the best of my knowledge, they’re not under consideration, at least as part of the things that the president is currently looking at.”
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland had previously suggested to Yellen that reducing the tariffs would help ease inflation and settle a long-standing source of tension between the U.S. and Canada.
The National Association of Home Builders has been a staunch supporter of reducing the lumber tariffs. After the Reuters article was released, NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter issued a statement expressing the group’s frustration. “NAHB is extremely disappointed that the Biden administration is turning a blind eye to America’s housing affordability crisis by refusing to eliminate tariffs on Canadian lumber at the same time it is considering rescinding tariffs on a wide range of Chinese goods to curb inflation. Tariffs act as a tax on American consumers and the lumber tariff is particularly onerous, given that it has contributed to unprecedented lumber price volatility that has sharply raised the cost of housing at a time when housing affordability is already at a more than 10-year low.”
NAHB data show lumber price volatility has added more than $18,600 to the price of an average single-family home in the last 12 months.