Pres. Donald Trump’s administration recently imparted tariffs of up to 50% on home construction materials from Canada, and it’s impacting Connecticut housing developers.
The tariffs extend to several types of supplies, including steel, aluminum, appliances, electronics, wood, pulp and paper products, according to Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
Canadian lumber accounts for about 85% of the softwood imported into the U.S., and a quarter of all U.S. supply, DeLauro said.
“This trade war, these challenges, will have a direct impact on the home construction industry, and that is as the housing crisis worsens in our nations, and it is whether or not we can build the homes that our families need,” DeLauro said.
Canada, in turn, enacted retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods and more than 60% of home builders report they’re feeling the tariffs’ impacts, DeLauro said.
The U.S.’s tariffs on Canadian goods, enacted about two weeks ago, are on top of an estimated, combined 35% tariffs on lumber that were already in place from previous levies, according to DeLauro.
Claims by Trump that the tariffs would promote American production are a fallacy, according to DeLauro.
“This is not about protecting American workers, our own domestic sawmill production has been flat for two years,” DeLauro said. “It will take time and real investment before American lumber production can fill the gap that Canada does.”
Last year, DeLauro announced a bill that would prevent the use of tariffs as a pretext for price gouging. The No Gratuitous Overcharging for Ubiquitous Global Exports (No GOUGE) Act would prohibit tariff-driven price gouging by the largest corporations and protect small businesses and consumers.
DeLauro said the threats on new construction primarily hurt first-time homebuyers who rely on new construction inventory.
“We should be making equipment more affordable, but this administration is making it slower and making it more expensive,” DeLauro said.
Chris Cozzi, president of New Haven Building Trades, emphasized how the tariffs are worsening the housing crisis.
“A single piece of equipment coming out of Canada can have a tariff of over $100,000,” Cozzi said. “It’s increasing costs. When costs increase, projects get cut, the work opportunities are limited for those in the area.”
