California homebuilders say they have few options but to keep buying Canadian lumber, even if it's hit with 25 per cent tariffs, as they rebuild thousands of homes destroyed by devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
Dan Dunmoyer, president of the California Building Industry Association, said Wednesday that "there aren't really alternatives" to Canadian lumber used for homebuilding in the state because about 80 per cent of Californian land is owned by the federal or state governments and can't be logged.
Dunmoyer also said California lacks mills, environmental policies and supply chains that would allow a quick switch to local lumber production, and making those changes would likely take years.
"We are very dependent on Canadian lumber," he said. "We like Canadian lumber. It's super high-quality, properly harvested for the environment. It's really quality material.
"I understand from a president or a prime minister's perspective, it's all about jobs. It's all about making sure your people have an income and a lifestyle, the quality of life, that's enjoyable … But to try to do this over a weekend and say, 'Hey, we just want to put these big tariffs on any country without creating the economy within your own country,' (it) just means higher prices, full stop, full period."
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian exports that would boost softwood lumber levies to almost 40 per cent when existing duties of 14.4 per cent are taken into account.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump said on Monday that the tariffs were on hold for 30 days.
The forestry sector in British Columbia and across Canada have described the proposed tariffs as unnecessary and unwarranted, given that the United States currently meets only about 70 per cent of its homebuilding lumber needs domestically while using Canadian lumber to fill the gap.
The U.S. raised duties on softwood lumber from Canada last August.
Trump said on Jan. 30 that the U.S. did not need foreign lumber and "we have all the trees you need.”
On Wednesday, the provincial government in B.C. announced it had formed a new council consisting of industry, labour, U.S.-relations expertise and government voices to advance the province's interests in the softwood lumber dispute.
The province says the new council will provide "recommendations on steps B.C. can take to eliminate the 14.4% softwood lumber duties" and held its first meeting on Jan. 30.
"The U.S. has imposed unjustified softwood lumber duties on Canada for years, and we anticipate that they will likely double before the end of this year," said B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar in a statement. "Bringing this team together, I am ready to throw the full weight of B.C. in the ring to fight these duties."
Today, we announced the formation of the BC Softwood Lumber Advisory Council.
— Ravi Parmar (@rparmar_BC) February 5, 2025
This council will defend and promote the interests of BC, in the ongoing softwood lumber dispute with the US.
Read the full news release here: https://t.co/2WscZeP1Pn#BCForestry #BCLumber pic.twitter.com/PKvoGcvPtQ
Dunmoyer said that even if the new tariffs were imposed, switching from Canadian wood to U.S. timber wouldn't be any cheaper for California homebuilders.
He said the recent devastating wildfires in Southern California had accelerated already high demand for new housing, and Trump's tariff threat could not have come at a worse time for the industry.
"The demand for housing before the fires was off the charts," Dunmoyer said. "We have projects where we have 35 homes available and 500 people in a waiting list, but that was before the fires.
"With the fires, it just increases that demand substantially. And the other thing, which is somewhat intuitive, is it increases the demand immediately so it's not like a ramp-up. You've got 15,000 displaced families who immediately need a home. And we don't produce that many homes on a monthly basis in California to meet that demand alone.
"The timing is horrific. It's horrible. It's like, why would we add to the cost of housing when we desperately need more housing?"
January's wildfires around Los Angeles destroyed or damaged as many as 19,000 homes and other structures.
