The Trump Administration’s threat to slap a 25% tariff on most imports from Canada and Mexico starting on April 2nd will have many unhealthy effects on all three of North America’s economies. If enacted, these tariffs would increase costs and prices and lower total employment, productivity, and real wages across all three economies. However, they will not have a material effect on home affordability in the US.
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A Home Design Catalog Takes Aim at a National Housing Shortage
In an effort to speed up much-needed homebuilding, Canada aims to bring back a tool that was last used in the post-war housing crisis.
Canada’s Caribou Conservation Goals and Woodland Management
One of the world’s biggest softwood lumber producing countries is in the midst of a major conservation effort that could place some Canadian fiber off limits to harvesters. Canada is taking steps to preserve boreal caribou habitat through provincial conservation plans.
A Glimpse into 2023 Forest Products Demand After Two Volatile Years
A huge number of homes slated for construction in the US this year are still waiting to be built or completed as a chronic labor shortage, tight supplies, and steep inflation wallop homebuilders’ confidence. This comes on the heels of the industry’s rockstar performance in 2021 following a surge in pandemic-induced homebuilding demand that took the industry by surprise.
Potential Impacts of Russia-Ukraine Conflict on Softwood Log and Lumber Markets
Sanctions on Russia, including the ban on using the SWIFT money transfer system, will severely limit its ability to participate in international trade, but the impacts to its softwood log and lumber trade are likely to be less affected than other industries.
Over half of Russia’s softwood lumber trade and three-quarters of its softwood log trade is with China (graphs below). China has not imposed sanctions on Russia and has payment systems independent from the SWIFT system. Only ocean shipments from St. Petersburg, which account for around 25% of China’s total volume from Russia, are traded with letters of credit based in US dollars. Some contracts have already been changed to Chinese RMB payments, however trade from Northwest Russia is likely to suffer some in the coming months.
China Bulletin
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