Trump’s New Tariffs Slap 45% Tax on Canadian Lumber at US Border

Homebuilders warn that rising wood prices are of greater threat to national security than timber-based imports.

Jason Ross
Jason Ross
Wed 01 Oct 25
The vast majority of single-family homes built in the U.S. are timber-framed, with steel and concrete construction gaining ground in disaster-prone regions across the South. (Photo Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. via Alamy Stock Images)
The vast majority of single-family homes built in the U.S. are timber-framed, with steel and concrete construction gaining ground in disaster-prone regions across the South. (Photo Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. via Alamy Stock Images)

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More than 25% of lumber used to build housing across the United States will now be subject to 45% direct and indirect tariffs and duties after Donald Trump slapped a 10% global tariff on all lumber imported into the United States. That is according to Kurt Niquidet, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, which said that tariffs will do nothing to improve national security but instead “raise lumber costs, increase pressure on housing affordability and undermine the trade relationship between Canada and the US.”

Click here to download the White House statement

As it stands, about 93% of US homes rely on timber framing for single-family housing. And despite Trump claiming yesterday that the United States timber industry has the capacity to supply 95% of its local demand, Niquidet warns that the real capacity is about 70% of the softwood lumber to build houses right now. “25% of that (balance) is really coming from Canada,” Niquidet said last month, “and British Columbia is the largest softwood lumber producer within Canada.”

For decades, railcar after railcar and log truck after log truck have transported Canadian lumber across the border. As it stands, more than 80% of the United States’ lumber imports come across its North American border, with more than 70% of softwood lumber used to build housing. (Photo Credit: 1812705505 via Shutterstock Images)
For decades, railcar after railcar and log truck after log truck have transported Canadian lumber across the border. As it stands, more than 80% of the United States’ lumber imports come across its North American border, with more than 70% of softwood lumber used to build housing. (Photo Credit: 1812705505 via Shutterstock Images)

Wood Central understands that the decision to impose new tariffs follows a months-long National Security probe and comes after the Department of Commerce, in August, pushed to raise duties on Canadian lumber to 35%.19% – a move that had been slammed as “absurd and reckless” by policy markets north of the border – which in turn, forecast duties to drive up the cost of a single family home by at least US $6,000.00.

The powerful National Association of Home Builders argue that tariffs and duties on more than 30% of imported lumber used to build single-family dwellings across the United States are an existential threat to housing affordability. (Photo Credit: Abaca Press / Alamy Stock Photo)
The powerful National Association of Home Builders argue that tariffs and duties on more than 30% of imported lumber used to build single-family dwellings across the United States are an existential threat to housing affordability. (Photo Credit: Abaca Press / Alamy Stock Photo)

Speaking to US media, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) warned that higher wood prices could blunt construction at a time when the administration was hoping to revive home-buying. “Our housing crisis is a bigger threat to national security than imported lumber,” the National Association of Home Builders said earlier this year. “The cost of building materials has already risen by 34% since December 2020, which is far higher than the rate of inflation. Data from the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) survey reveals that builders estimate a typical cost effect from recent tariff actions at $10,900 per home.”

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  • J Ross headshot

    Jason Ross, publisher, is a 15-year professional in building and construction, connecting with more than 400 specifiers. A Gottstein Fellowship recipient, he is passionate about growing the market for wood-based information. Jason is Wood Central's in-house emcee and is available for corporate host and MC services.

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