Anxious housebuilders in the US want to swap Canadian Douglas fir for American Southern yellow pine.
US builders are currently stockpiling sawn timber, along with windows, doors and other wood products essential to construction, in order to avoid the price rises caused by the tariffs imposed on timber imports from Canada, Mexico and China. The newspaper The Wall Street Journal reports*, that builder Steve Martinez from Idaho, for example, is increasing his warehouse stocks by a third, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars out of his own pocket because lenders have refused to finance purchases of this kind.
“I can't keep playing ping-pong,” stressed Martinez, one of many panic-stricken builders left with effectively nowhere to turn when US President Donald Trump shifted his threat to impose customs tariffs on Canadian sawn timber last week. Wood Central had already pointed out that the US National Association of Home Builders (National Association of House Builders – NAHB) has stated that tariffs on construction materials could push up the cost of a single-family home by 7500 to 10000 US dollars.
“The NAHB has led the fight against tariffs for years, because they have a negative impact on housing affordability. In effect, tariffs work as a tax on American builders, home buyers and consumers.” The US National Association of Home Builders has taken the initiative in pressing Donald Trump to postpone the application of tariffs to Canadian sawn timber.
To adapt to the costs, builders in the US are looking for alternatives. Cleveland project developer Andrew Gotlieb, who is replacing Canadian Douglas fir timber with the more economical domestic US Southern yellow pine, is having to carry out additional processing to make the pine timber suitable for the structures concerned. Rene Bello, chief executive of the Florida-based development company BLDG Ventures, meanwhile, is switching to prefabricated structures in order to speed up the construction of multi-storey rental blocks in Miami.
So where is the problem? At a time when demand has never been higher (the housing shortfall is currently estimated at 7 million units), builders' sense of confidence in the stability of their businesses has fallen sharply. The S&P 1500 Homebuilding Sub-Industy Index has dropped by 17% over the past three months.
Investor confidence in listed builders is “distinctly negative”, says UBS Research managing director John Lovallo. According to Robert Dietz, chief economist of the US National Association of Home Builders, concerns about tariffs “began right after the election in November”.
Given high house prices and mortgage rates in the US, builders are planning to make greater use of various incentives, such as mortgage rate buydowns and discounts, to stop buyers walking away from a home purchase. “Buydowns and discounts are very important in keeping people in these markets,” said Dan Dunmoyer, president of the California Building Industry Association. “The new tariffs are precisely what will make these incentives even more necessary.”
US Southern yellow pine (Pinus palustris, Pinus elliottii, Pinus echinata and Pinus taeda).
The timber has a distinctive colour and texture: the wood ranges from white to markedly yellowish, while the heartwood is yellow to reddish brown. It combines appearance, durability and extremely easy working with the highest so-called “nail-holding” capacity.
Main uses
It is most often used for structures, floor and roof trusses, beams, rafters and frames. Its easy working makes it particularly suitable for decking and outdoor use. Its characteristic properties and impact resistance make it suitable for floor coverings, panels and joinery products.
Distribution and availability
The forests of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia, which cover 78 million hectares of land. The timber is widely available.
Physical and mechanical properties
Medium texture. Weight from 537 to 626 kg per cubic metre. Its high density provides natural durability, weight, impact resistance and wear resistance. The timber has a higher specific gravity than Pinus sylvestris. It also withstands rough handling well.