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PORTLAND, Maine — Tariffs that are central to Trump’s economic policies could destabilize markets for numerous Maine products from lumber to electricity. …Tariffs on products from Canada, which is Maine’s biggest trading partner, would send powerful ripples across the state’s economy. Maine brought in $4.4 billion of goods – fuels, oil, electricity, wood pulp and more – from its neighbor in 2024. Imports from Canada far outpace those from any other trading partner. …Patrick Woodcock, CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce said, “many state businesses see Canada not just as a market to buy and sell items, but a place with mills and processing plants that are “fully integrated in their business plans”. …New tariffs could complicate trade relations between the U.S. and Canada, which have been tested in disputes over lumber for decades, said Patrick Strauch, of the Maine Forest Products Council… but a universal tariff would have the biggest effect on the price of energy. [the access the full story a Portland Press Herald subscription is required]
Framing lumber markets hovered in a holding pattern as traders embraced a wait-and-see approach to a potential 25% tariff on Canadian shipments. The Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price finished the week $1 lower. Western S-P-F buyers moved to the sidelines in late trading, citing minimal immediate needs and uncertainty about the tariffs and near-term prospects. …Price weakness lingered in the Southern Pine market amid sluggish to stagnant sales. Buyers lacked urgency and the potential impact of tariffs on demand for SYP was a widespread topic of conversation. …Traders debated how much of a price spread between Western S-P-F and SYP would need to emerge before end users substituted species on a larger scale. …In Coast markets, Hem-Fir dimension continued to face serious downward pressure from soft Inland prices. Meanwhile, dry Douglas Fir dimension prices stabilized, assisted by a green market that has found its footing.
Lumber futures surged to over $590 per thousand board feet, approaching the two-month high of $600 from January 6th following US President Trump’s decision to implement tariffs on Canada, a major supplier of wood to the US. The tariffs were threatened by the US President shortly after taking office, but conflicting messages from the Presidential administration raised skepticism for investors on whether trade barriers would actually be raised. According to the latest data, Canada supplied around 30% of lumber used in the US last year. The 25% tax on Canadian goods, including wood, add to the already existing anti-dumping duties of 14.5%, raising capacity pressures on domestically produced alternatives. In the meantime, the greater degree of confidence that the Fed will deliver more than one rate cut this year drove benchmark mortgage rates to ease below 7%, giving some respite to construction demand. [END]
The stock market fell on Monday after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, eliciting threats of retaliation and setting the stage for a trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid about 550 points, or 1.25%, in early trading on Monday. The S&P 500 dropped 1.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted 2%. Traders demonstrated their jitters with a selloff of U.S. auto companies, which hold deep ties to suppliers in Canada and Mexico. Shares of General Motors plummeted 6%, while Ford saw its stock price plunge 4%. The market rout extended worldwide. Japan’s Nikkei index fell 2.5% on Monday, and the pan-European STOXX 600 dropped about 1%.
Homeownership has long played a starring role in the American dream. …Nearly nine in 10 homeowners (88% / 81% in 2025) in a survey said the true cost of owning a home is more expensive than they’d expected. …Recent, unexpected hurricane-related floods in Western North Carolina and massive fires across Los Angeles County, which both occurred after the survey was conducted, will surely raise costs even more dramatically this year, and not just in the affected regions. This will be due to fierce competition for construction supplies and labor as disaster-stricken areas compete for resources and everyone else looks to maintain and improve their homes. Tariffs, depending on how they’re applied – e.g., Canadian lumber for rebuilding or across-the-board Chinese imports hitting home improvement store shelves – and potential disruption to the construction workforce can also surge homeownership costs.
Kenneth A. Margolis, New York — Who says bipartisanship is dead? President Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have found common ground. Both seem determined to cripple the rebuilding effort in Los Angeles.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) introduced the bipartisan Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025 to strengthen the aerial wildfire suppression fleet and better combat the year-round threat of catastrophic wildfire. “I have worked to expand the operations of Very Large Air Tankers that have proven absolutely essential to firefighters battling wildfires in New Mexico, Los Angeles, and across the West,” said Heinrich. …“As a former Navy SEAL and the only aerial firefighter in the Senate, I understand government’s most solemn duty is to keep the American people safe,” said Sheehy. The bill reauthorizes the Secretary of Defense’s authority to sell excess Department of Defense aircraft and aircraft parts, acceptable for commercial sale, to persons or entities that contract with the government for the delivery of fire retardant or water by air to suppress wildfires…
