No one likes uncertainty: Here’s how Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canadian lumber will impact the Berkshires’ housing market | Local News

When customers request a lumber quote or place an order with Fairview Millwork, they might see the word “tariff” more than once in the documents they need to sign. 

“We want to make you aware of the impact that current and potential future tariffs may have on the building materials industry,” one contract reads. “Some of our products will be affected, leading to price increases. Due to market volatility and our suppliers’ efforts to navigate ongoing changes, we may not always be able to provide advance notice of price adjustments.”

This is part of new language Fairview Millwork — a third generation family-owned business that primarily serves Eastern and Central Massachusetts and New Hampshire — is using as the company prepares for the possible effects of President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariff on Canadian lumber that is expected to go into effect on April 2.

“To protect ourselves and to put everyone else on notice, all of our contracts and our sales documents are now going to include a disclaimer that should tariffs go into place our customer is responsible to cover those costs,” said John Mahoney, chief operating officer at Bridgewater-based Fairview Millwork.

GILLIAN HECK — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

“To protect ourselves and to put everyone else on notice, all of our contracts and our sales documents are now going to include a disclaimer that, should tariffs go into place, our customer is responsible to cover those costs,” said John Mahoney, chief operating officer at the company, which is based in Bridgewater.

After drops in the stock market last week, Trump paused the rollout of tariffs against Mexico and Canada until April 2. But the short reprieve has done little to ease the uncertainty felt in the domestic lumber and building industry.

“Prices are changing every day, orders are being canceled … you quote a price today and tomorrow it’s a different price, so then you have to negotiate,” said Francis Palasieski, director of government affairs at Northeastern Retail Lumber Association. “And that’s not good for anybody.” 

If the tariffs are imposed in April, local lumber and building supply companies said they would not be able to absorb the resulting price hikes, and would have to pass on those extra costs to customers. Some companies are concerned that those higher prices could drive customers away, cause disputes and damage their reputation in the communities they serve. Meanwhile, people in the housing sector worry price increases in building materials will slow an already sluggish housing market to a grinding halt. 

‘UNIQUELY DEPENDENT ON IT’

Even before Trump introduced the prospect of a 25 percent tariff on Canadian lumber, lumber prices remained high in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Palasieski said. If imposed, the new tariffs would exacerbate the already elevated prices.

The National Association of Home Builders said it has received anecdotal reports that its members are planning for tariffs on lumber and gypsum — which home builders source from Mexico and use in drywall — to increase material costs between $7,500 and $10,000 on the average single-family home.

Tariffs hit the lumber industry in the Northeast particularly hard, Palasieski said. The nation as a whole imports roughly 30 percent of its softwood lumber from Canada because there is not enough domestic capacity to meet demand, according to the NAHB.

“In the Northeast we’re in a unique situation. We actually use more Canadian lumber than most [of the U.S.], and a lot of that is due to our climate,” Palasieski said. “We’re uniquely dependent on it.”

The commonwealth imported $11.4 billion in Canadian goods in 2023, according to the consulate general of Canada in Boston; $279 million was spent on wood and semifinished wood products.

The state imported $11.4 billion in Canadian goods in 2023, according to the consulate general of Canada in Boston; $279 million was spent on wood and semifinished wood products.

GILLIAN HECK — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

‘OUTSIDE OF OUR CONTROL’

At rk MILES, a lumber and building material supplier in Williamstown, staff are warily watching the tariff war play out.

“It’s [caused] a lot of disruption for our business,” said owner Joe Miles. “Our customers are wondering how it might impact them and it’s been difficult for us to say how it would impact them because the tariffs have been put off a couple times.”

Miles said he has yet to see a significant increase in lumber and plywood prices, but costs for metal building parts like fasteners and flashings, which are affected by Trump’s 25 percent tariff on metal imports, are going up.

One wholesaler recently informed Miles that “with regret, we will be forced to adjust pricing at least twice a month until the tariff situation subsides. Due to the volatility of import markets, some pricing may change without notice.”

“If prices change on us, we’ve got to change [our] prices,” Miles said. “We can’t absorb, for example, a 25 percent tariff.”

Duke’s Lumber and Hardware Contracting Supplies in North Adams also is receiving warnings of potential price hikes from its suppliers. Tim Church, the general manager, said the company’s vendors are working to keep prices as low as possible, but there is talk of increases from 5 to 40 percent in April.

At Duke’s Lumber and Hardware Contracting Supplies in North Adams, staff are also warily watching the tariff war play out. Tim Church, the general manager, said the company’s vendors are endeavoring to keep prices as low as possible, but there is talk of an increase of 5 to 40 percent in April.

GILLIAN HECK — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

“It’s going to affect everyone in the nation, but we’re doing our best to keep our prices low and competitive,” Church said.

Small lumber companies like rk MILES and Fairview Millwork rely on word-of-mouth to bring in customers, which means that their reputation in the communities they serve can dictate the success of their business.

“You look at a national company like Home Depot or Lowe’s and they spend billions of dollars on advertising and we don’t have that ability,” said Mahoney. “What we have to work with is people who know us in the community, our level of trust, our reputation. We don’t want to risk any of that getting damaged.”

The companies worry that changing prices could damage their reputation among customers, but their only defense tool amidst the uncertainty is to advise customers of potential price adjustments in advance, Mahoney said.

“We’re not playing a game with people,” he said. “If a tariff happens, it’s outside of our control, but by letting people know ahead of time that there’s a risk, at least they know.”

Church said he’s less worried about possible price increases turning away longtime customers, but he said it could affect the company’s ability to secure new customers, particularly homeowners who make up roughly half of their customer base.

Using a forklift, Joe Bell moves around pallets of pressure treated lumber stored outside at Duke’s Lumber Hardware and Contracting Supplies on Curran Highway in North Adams.

GILLIAN HECK — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

‘WE NEED A SENSE OF URGENCY’

The tariffs also have introduced uncertainty into the equation for housing developers.

In the Berkshires, developers struggle to build a home or apartment building at a cost that allows them to turn around and sell or rent it at an affordable rate. Now, those developers worry that the proposed tariffs could shrink that already slim margin.

A worker guides a roof frame into position as crane lifts it onto the top of the new, 22,000-square-foot Williamstown Fire Station, which has been under construction since September 2024. Some development and housing experts are saying the threat of a 25 percent tariff on Canadian lumber will negatively impact their industries’ ability to build much needed housing. 

GILLIAN HECK — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

With future production costs up in the air, housing advocates — including the state Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus — are concerned that investors will be less willing to invest in projects, effectively slowing desperately needed housing development in the Berkshires and across the state.

“That [uncertainty] just makes capital and investment sit on the sidelines longer, waiting to see how it all sorts out before they invest in deals and we need the opposite to be happening,” Augustus said. “We need a sense of urgency. We need to make deals quickly.”

Over the past five years, material costs for construction have increased by 40 percent nationwide, and Massachusetts is among the states with the highest construction costs. While high building costs can theoretically be offset by raising rents and setting higher sale prices for homes, that is less feasible in rural areas like the Berkshires where people’s incomes won’t match up with more expensive rents, developers said.

And relying on higher rents and sale prices to offset construction costs threatens the development of direly needed affordable housing, where profit margins are even slimmer.

Even without the tariffs yet in effect, the uncertainty has already sent reverberations through the housing world.

“If you come in and want to fund a project, and you look at what the [financial estimate] says, but you’re going to actually go in the ground 18 months from now, how could you guarantee that those are the prices that you’re going to have, given this uncertainty?” Augustus said.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}