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The US is expected to reduce tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber in a final ruling next week, but not remove them, said Susan Yurkovich, chair of the B.C. Timber Trade Council. That means Canadian businesses will still have to pay tariffs close to 11 per cent, while U.S. home builders and buyers will still have to pay the additional cost of tariffs on their homes.

More than a quarter of U.S. builders’ lumber comes from Canada, the world’s largest exporter of softwood lumber.

In 2017, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, citing unfair subsidies to the Canadian lumber industry. The U.S. further increased import tariffs on softwood lumber in 2021, even as unprecedented increases in a pandemic-fueled housing construction and renovation boom have pushed lumber prices to record highs.

And in June, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the U.S. is willing to hold new talks with Canada to resolve the long-standing dispute over U.S. tariffs on cork, although the core issues between the two sides remain.