NAHB Pushes Back Against New Lumber Tariffs

The latest round of duties on imported wood is creating a new level of uncertainty about the home building business going forward.

When President Trump announced a new 10 percent tariff on imported lumber along with additional duties on some furniture, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, the reaction from the industry was as expected.

“These new tariffs will create additional headwinds for an already challenged housing market by further raising construction and renovation costs,” National Association of Home Builders chairman Buddy Hughes said in a statement released almost immediately after the announcement.

“While this tariff is supposed to protect domestic lumber firms, recent data from the first quarter show that U.S. sawmills are operating at just 64 percent of their potential capacity,” the association wrote on its website, adding it was “a figure that has dropped steadily since 2017. 

“It will take years until domestic lumber production ramps up to meet the needs of our citizens. In the interim, imports of softwood lumber are vital to build, remodel and repair American homes and apartments.”

The NAHB said it is “urging the administration to continue its efforts to increase the supply of timber from public lands in an environmentally responsible manner, and to quickly enter into negotiations with Canada and other global trading partners to resolve ongoing trade issues in a fair and equitable manner that eliminates tariffs on lumber and other building materials.”

In announcing this latest round of tariffs impacting a wide range of products using the material, the president said wood product imports were weakening the U.S. economy. “Because of the state of the United States wood industry, the United States may be unable to meet demands for wood products that are crucial to the national defense and critical infrastructure,” his statement said.

Virtually all of the tariffs this administration has enacted since April are now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which is deliberating on whether they are legal. A decision is expected before the end of the year, but in previous rulings on other Trump executive, orders the court has allowed them to stand pending further deliberations.

According to the NAHB, the U.S. imports about one-third of the lumber it uses and Canada accounts for nearly 85 percent of these imports. This latest 10 percent duty comes on top of existing rates of 35 percent – up from just 14.5 percent previously – and now means that Canadian lumber tariffs, starting on Oct. 14, will effectively be 45 percent. Increased duties on imported furniture and kitchen and bath cabinetry will begin at the same time and are scheduled to be further increased at the start of 2026.

BACK TO NEWS