The United States is hurting itself as much as Canada with the new tariffs on softwood lumber.
Ian Dunn is the executive director of the Ontario Forest Industries Association and says the new tariff is 17.9 per cent, almost double what it was, which makes the cost of building new houses more expensive.
“We’ve done work with the National Association of Homebuilders…young families, the middle class are looking for new and affordable housing, which is becoming more and more out of reach for these people and doubling duties will not be helpful,” says Dunn.
Dunn says despite high lumber prices, it’s going to hurt its members.
“I’ve heard from our members that this is a real concern. You know the market for lumber, it goes up and it goes down, so who knows a couple of years down the line what will happen to lumber prices and if these duties continue to be there, companies will suffer…communities will suffer.”
Dunn says while the tariff for most lumber companies is almost 18 per cent, some lumber companies in Ontario and Quebec are looking at a 30 per cent duty.
