According to the National Association of Home Builders, members of Congress and the Biden administration are heeding concerns about the need to take action to resolve soaring lumber prices, tariffs, and supply shortages.
During the Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Biden’s 2021 trade policy agenda, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told Senate lawmakers she would “push for solutions to the lumber pricing issues” and address the issue of tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports. Tai expressed similar sentiments during a House hearing in which four bipartisan lawmakers spoke about the need to seek remedies for rising lumber prices by boosting domestic production and ending tariffs on Canadian lumber imports, according to the NAHB.
During the House and Senate hearings, several Representatives and Senators delivered messages reiterating concerns about rising lumber prices and their impact on the housing market and overall economy. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) sent a joint letter to Representative Tai stating that “the complete of these [lumber] tariffs is necessary to provide relief from rising lumber prices. American home buyers, not Canadian lumber producers, are the ones who end up paying the cost of these trade restrictions.”
The NAHB compiled highlights from the Senate hearing on its NAHBNow blog.
