Housing prices in America today are near an all-time high, and home ownership has yet to recover from the 2008 and 2020 recessions. …With construction materials making up roughly 60% of a home’s cost, we need to address the problem from another angle. The U.S. currently has tariffs on important construction materials such as Canadian lumber and Chinese nails and pipes. Eliminating such building material tariffs could deliver a powerful blow to the other side of this housing problem. Unfortunately, President Biden has other plans. This May, the president announced a new 25% duty rate on Chinese steel, up from 0-7.5%. For comparison, the 5-20% duty rates on Canadian softwood lumber added an extra $24,000 to construction costs in 2021. Construction costs have skyrocketed since 2020, increasing by an average of 20% and outpacing even the highest inflation rate of 8%. Imposing still more tariffs on important construction materials will only further inflate those costs.