Housing prices are climbing across the country, and the cause is more than soaring demand. One overlooked culprit is a lumber shortage made worse by a U.S. tariff on imports from Canada. [When] The U.S and Canada softwood lumber agreement… expired, U.S. lumber producers filed antidumping and countervailing duty complaints. They claim Canada unfairly subsidizes and dumps lumber in the U.S., though in cases taken to the World Trade Organization the U.S. has rarely won. The Trump Commerce Department imposed the tariff in 2017. …Canadian lumber can provide a safety-valve for supply amid U.S. shortages, but not since the tariff. The Commerce Department cut the levy…[but] Lumber buyers know Commerce can make a new finding of a higher duty, which would apply retroactively on Canadian lumber they have already imported. This backward-looking assignment of duties introduces enormous uncertainty. … How about killing this one to help American home buyers? [we respect the copyrights of the source publication – full access may require a subscription]