Trump's tweet comes a day after his administration said that it would impose a roughly 20 percent tariff on softwood lumber imported from the country. Homebuilders, who naturally aren't thrilled with the tariff.
"The fact that these two protected sectors are the subject of bilateral disputes in recent weeks is not evidence that NAFTA is failing". Here are two questions the article addressed for background.
"Thanks to a lack of protection for the lumber industry, Canadian softwood lumber now accounts for one-third of the US market". The association put out a statement denouncing the lumber tariff, calculating that fears of impending tariffs had driven up wood prices and added nearly US$3,600 to the cost of a typical home. It's a rift that goes back decades.
"The allegations made by the US lumber lobby are the same arguments they made in prior rounds of litigation, all of which were rejected and overturned by independent NAFTA panels", says Yurkovich.
On the issue of softwood lumber, the Prime Minister refuted the baseless allegations by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the decision to impose unfair duties.
Lumber and dairy issues were also problems under previous presidents.
Some U.S. reporters asked why he appeared to be picking on Canada, a close ally and neighbour.
The wood is a major part of the massive U.S. construction and home-building industry - an economic bellwether.
The U.S. and Canada, among the most open economies in the world, enjoy a booming cross-border trade.
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The Canadian government denounced the tariffs.
Ross, who appeared at the White House media briefing, took a similar hard line against Canadian trade policies regarding dairy and lumber - the two commodities at the heart of the trade dispute.
NAHB broke down the lumber numbers.
The latest row was triggered when Canada extended those policies to apply to ultrafiltered milk, a product used in cheese production and at the center of a thriving United States export business.
So how does this looks in terms of housing costs?
- Weaver said far too many forest tenure licences had been awarded to multinational companies that have no interest in value-added jobs.
"If the 20% lumber duty remains in effect throughout 2017, NAHB estimates this will result in the loss of almost $500 million in wages and salaries for USA workers, $350 million in taxes and other revenue for the governments in the US and more than 8,200 full-time U.S.jobs".
Shares in Canadian lumber companies rose as the level of the new tariffs came in at the low end of what investors were expecting.
The softwood lumber dispute between Washington and Ottawa has seen many twists and turns for almost 35 years, with USA producers accusing their Canadian counterparts of exporting lumber at subsidized prices.
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