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U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

woodworkingnetwork.com

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Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#11

Post by kokanator »

Policy bankrupts large swaths of the logging industry. We create restrictions that substantially increase the cost of harvesting timber on public forest lands ( and add fuel load btw ). This has left major land owners as our primary source of timber ( read monopolistic ). Allow these timber companies to ship our timber overseas to create an intentional artificial shortage ( yes it is documented ).

I know, let's solve this problem by adding tariffs on timber from Canada who openly supports their timber industry.

Alternatively, you could fix the problems at home!

( Might be a little tainted as I grew up when the spotted owl shutdown the living for entire towns in Washington and our fathers had to go to Alaska and Canada for years to make money to send home. )

Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#12

Post by MattGaiser »

pmastela wrote: post #7
xyzzyz wrote: post #3

Good, lumber has been too cheap lately, which was pushing construction costs down and depressing house prices.

Am I completely out of the loop or is this sarcasm? I thought the lumber costs were skyrocketing and housing prices were too. At least in the US, I thought this was the case.

Not OP, but it is sarcasm. Lumber is at record prices.

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/lumber

Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#13

Post by mywittyname »

jvreeland wrote: post #6
xyzzyz wrote: post #3

Good, lumber has been too cheap lately, which was pushing construction costs down and depressing house prices.

right, what we needs is high housing prices.

Now I know how the people who got in early on real estate in SF or Seattle feel.

Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#14

Post by MattGaiser »

RoadieRoller wrote: post #8

(I am not a US citizen, but visited many times) Why not build houses using concrete/cement? Poor Asian countries have been building houses for decades using concrete and less maintenance. No, it is not about weather. Concrete can be easily used in Southern US states where winter is less than a month or no snow at all. At least the structure can be concrete and the walls be wood or drywall. I think it is the wood mafi…

Americans tend to want very large homes by global standards and lumber is (or at least was) cheaper.

Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#15

Post by btbuildem »

As a Canadian - awesome! (Given that I understand the consequences correctly, that is.)

The incredible demand, coupled with supply chain troubles, has driven up the price of lumber here nearly 300% A 8' 2x4 was $2.95 this time last year, today it's $10.

I hope this cools the exports of lumber from Canada, and we see the prices move back towards a sane level.

Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#16

Post by clusterfish »

RoadieRoller wrote: post #8

(I am not a US citizen, but visited many times) Why not build houses using concrete/cement? Poor Asian countries have been building houses for decades using concrete and less maintenance. No, it is not about weather. Concrete can be easily used in Southern US states where winter is less than a month or no snow at all. At least the structure can be concrete and the walls be wood or drywall. I think it is the wood mafi…

It's more expensive and has a terrible environmental impact. Forestry at least can be sustainable if done right

Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#17

Post by rhinoceraptor »

pmastela wrote: post #7
xyzzyz wrote: post #3

Good, lumber has been too cheap lately, which was pushing construction costs down and depressing house prices.

Am I completely out of the loop or is this sarcasm? I thought the lumber costs were skyrocketing and housing prices were too. At least in the US, I thought this was the case.

Sheathing plywood and OSB are now basically as expensive as cabinet grade hardwood plywood. It's insane.

Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#18

Post by tengbretson »

If this actually works to shore up the domestic end-to-end supply chain for lumber and lumber products so that we don't have to rely on growing and harvesting trees here, sending them across the world for processing, just to ship them back as plywood and other wood products then great!

Based on what products this is targeting and the current domestic labor situation here it appears that this will absolutely not be the case.

Re: U.S. moves to double Canadian lumber tariffs

#20

Post by vkou »

jvreeland wrote: post #6
xyzzyz wrote: post #3

Good, lumber has been too cheap lately, which was pushing construction costs down and depressing house prices.

right, what we needs is high housing prices.

This is a great narrative, until we remember that lumber is a tiny fraction of the price of a house.
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