WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2025
/PRNewswire/ --
- Trade measures against unfairly traded Canadian lumber imports
are strengthening domestic supply lines by maximizing long-term
lumber output by U.S. workers to build U.S. homes.
- Since 2016, U.S. mills have added eight billion board feet of
production capacity and produced 30 billion additional board feet
of softwood lumber, more than offsetting any decline in unfairly
traded Canadian imports.
- The U.S. softwood lumber industry had the practical production
capacity to supply 95 percent of U.S. softwood lumber consumption
in 2024. (Wood Products Association).
- Softwood lumber prices are currently low and have not kept pace
with general inflation in recent years or the past two
decades.
John Rustad, opposition leader in
British Columbia, recently stated
that Canadian lumber is being "replaced" in the U.S. market. Mr.
Rustad's statement at the Truck Loggers Association annual
convention in Vancouver summarizes
perfectly what has driven the Canadian built-for-export lumber
industry to go on an all-out offensive in Washington and in the media against U.S.
measures to protect U.S. lumber producers and workers from unfairly
traded imports.
"Canada is frantically pushing
the idea that the United States
needs their unfairly traded softwood lumber by attacking President
Trump's strong border measures," said Andrew Miller, Chairman and owner of Stimson
Lumber Company, adding that "Canada tries to maintain U.S. market share at
any cost by dumping their product into the U.S. market at the
expense of U.S. workers and companies, and then protesting in
apparent coordination with its Canada First allies in Washington when their unfair trade practices
result in import measures at the border."
"Canadian lumber exporters are so desperate to evade the
enforcement of U.S. trade laws that they are even pushing the
outlandish scheme of using U.S. border tax revenues as a means to
get the U.S. industry to drop its trade case against them, with the
aim of relieving Canada from
having to pay future duties while continuing to dump their excess
lumber into the U.S. market," added Miller. "This notion is an
absolute affront to the hard working men and women in the American
forestry industry."
"The Canadian softwood lumber export industry needs to think
more creatively about what to do with their excess lumber
production, instead of relying on the U.S. market to dump their
lumber on the American market to the detriment of U.S. forestry
workers and communities," stated Zoltan van
Heyningen, Executive Director of the U.S. Lumber
Coalition.
In an effort to escape U.S. trade measures, Canada and their Canada First allies are
unashamedly using the recent fire disasters in Los Angeles as the latest reason to promote
the false notion that the United
States needs unfairly traded Canadian lumber. For instance,
British Columbia's new
Forest Minister has noted that he
will work with U.S. organizations such as the National Association
of Home Builders (NAHB) against any border measures on lumber,
while baselessly proclaiming that when Los Angeles is "looking at rebuilding they are
going to be relying on BC wood to do be able to do that."
Erroneous, but persistent, messaging by Canada and NAHB regarding the impact of lumber
border measures on housing costs leads to inaccurate and
inflammatory headlines such as "Trump tariffs on Canadian lumber
could be a 'nightmare' for California's fire recovery." Headlines like
these serve to push an agenda that is not grounded in facts.
"It is frustrating seeing the use of inaccurate Canada First
talking points being portrayed as facts in many news stories,"
stated Miller, adding that the "fact is that softwood lumber prices
are currently low and have not kept pace with general inflation in
recent years or the past two decades. And softwood lumber accounts
for a very small share of the sales price of a newly constructed
home."
"The cost of lumber only makes up about 1.3 percent of the total
cost of an average new construction home, and even less in higher
priced homes," explained van Heyningen, "so the idea that
longstanding antidumping or countervailing duties or President
Trump's tariffs on unfairly traded Canadian lumber imports would
cause lumber prices to dramatically increase home prices is
nonsensical."
"Simply put, the cost of lumber doesn't move the needle when it
comes to the price of a new home. Lumber prices saw all-time highs
during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21. Lumber prices today are a
third of those high prices, but new home prices have continued to
climb," added van Heyningen.
From 2019 through the first three quarters of 2024, the median
new house price increased by 32 percent, the hourly earnings of
U.S. construction workers increased by 24 percent, and the profits
of the five largest U.S. homebuilders increased by 49 percent. By
comparison, softwood lumber prices increased by only 8.8 percent
over this period.
One must look elsewhere for a solution to new home prices. For
example, one key reason that there is a growing shortage of
affordable housing is because home builders have "largely stopped
building starter homes that consumers within 80 percent of the
median income can afford to buy," according to a recent statement
by Sam Khater, Chief Economist of
Freddie Mac, hence contributing to "rising housing costs that
continue to keep inflation elevated."
Miller also noted that organizations such as the NAHB have
carried out a policy to oppose internationally-accepted restraints
on unfairly traded building products, even pledging to "work with …
the governments of other countries and industry" to help achieve
this objective. Over the years NAHB and Canada have held numerous meetings together
and appear to be well coordinated in their messaging attacking the
enforcement of the U.S. trade laws against unfairly traded Canadian
lumber imports.
"It is unfortunate that certain organizations that are
supportive of Canada continue to
prioritize access to dumped and subsidized products over fair trade
at the expense of strengthening domestic supply lines of domestic
lumber. A more productive approach would be to promote U.S.
self-sufficiency in lumber production, as evidenced by the recent
robust expansion of U.S. sawmill investment and capacity expansion
that has occurred with the industry's use of the U.S. trade laws,"
stated Miller.
Indeed, since 2016, through the enforcement of the U.S. trade
laws, U.S. mills have added eight billion board feet of production
capacity and produced 30 billion additional board feet of softwood
lumber, more than offsetting the decline in unfairly traded
Canadian imports.
According to data from the Western Wood Products Association,
the U.S. softwood lumber industry had the practical production
capacity to supply 95 percent of U.S. softwood lumber consumption
in 2024. (Data current through October
2024.)
"Continued strong enforcement of the U.S. trade laws against
unfairly traded Canadian lumber imports is exactly what must happen
to keep expanding U.S. lumber manufacturing and availability to
build more American homes," concluded Miller.
About the U.S. Lumber Coalition
The U.S. Lumber
Coalition is an alliance of large and small softwood lumber
producers from around the country, joined by their employees and
woodland owners, working to address Canada's unfair lumber trade practices. Our
goal is to serve as the voice of the American lumber community and
effectively address Canada's
unfair softwood lumber trade practices. For more information,
please visit the Coalition's website at
www.uslumbercoalition.org.
CONTACT: Zoltan van
Heyningen
zoltan@uslumbercoalition.org | 202-805-9133
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SOURCE The U.S. Lumber Coalition
