California looks to Canadian timber to help in fire rebuild, despite tariff threat
SACRAMENTO — California homebuilders say they will have few options but to keep buying Canadian lumber even if it’s hit with 25 per cent tariffs as they rebuild thousands of homes destroyed by devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
Dan Dunmoyer, president of the California Building Industry Association, says “there aren’t really alternatives” to Canadian lumber used for homebuilding in the state because about 80 per cent of Californian land is owned by federal or state government and can’t be logged.
Dunmoyer says California also lacks mills, environmental policies and other ecosystem needs that would allow a quick switch to local lumber production, and making those changes would likely take years.
He says California homebuilders can buy from other U.S. suppliers, but there would also be a cost increase if the state looks domestically to replace Canadian production.
