How will Trump’s tariff plans impact the U.S. lumber market?

2025-01-07T17:53:00-05:00

As the imposition of a threatened 25% blanket tariff on Canadian goods including softwood lumber products looms for the end of January, many practices are concerned about how cost increases might impact procurements and the cost of building as the country’s production currently equals an almost 30% market share.

This uncertainty is exacerbated by the fact that many U.S. lumber mills have been affected by high interest rates and labor shortages in recent years, driving down annual production capacity to a point where they alone are incapable of meeting demands, says North Carolina State University economist Rajan Parajuli in a recent interview.

This would of course affect the nationwide cost of construction using such products. The most recent Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data showed an 11.8% uptick in the cost of softwood lumber when compared with the same 12-month period from the year before.

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How will Trump’s tariff plans impact the U.S. lumber market?