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The Honorable Max Baucus
Chairman
Senate Finance Committee
SD 219
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20010
Dear Chairman Baucus:
We urge you to oppose the Commerce Department’s preliminary
decision to impose as much as a 12 percent to a 32 percent tax
on softwood lumber from Canada will increase the cost of new
homes and home remodeling projects substantially. The U.S.
Census Bureau estimates that the fees on additional shipments
are equivalent to more than $1,000 for the lumber in an
average new home. For every $50 increase in the price of 1,000
board feet of framing lumber, 300,000 potential homeowners are
priced out of the housing market. If the tariffs are imposed
U.S. homes will become less unaffordable, especially to the
most vulnerable first time buyers who account for a
substantial portion of the nation’s annual 1.6 million new
home sales. In addition the tariffs will substantially
increase the cost of most remodeling projects, and the amount
that homeowners spend annually on remodeling is more than the
total spent on new homes.
Many members of Congress have expressed strong support for
free lumber trade, with over l00 members of the House and
Senate on record endorsing open lumber markets in H. Con. Res.
45 and S. Con. Res. 4. A group of bipartisan members from both
Congressional chambers have sent two separate letters to the
White House and Commerce Secretary Don Evans, calling for a
fair, factual, and unbiased consideration of the pending
countervailing and anti-dumping duty cases, and the potential
harmful effects of trade restrictions on the U.S. economy.
AHGA is opposed to the implementation of tariffs and other
restrictive border measures because they could deny the dream
of home ownership to many thousands of Americans and because
they will prolong the current recession. We hope you and other
Senators will urge Commerce Secretary Evans to ensure that the
Administration protects U.S. consumers and ensure that these
trade cases to be in compliance with U.S. and international
trade law. We also hope that members of the committee will
urge Ambassador Robert Zoellick not to include, in his
negotiations with Canada, any provision that would impose a
lumber-related tax, quota, or other government-mandated cost
increase on U.S. consumers.
Thanks again for your interest in this important issue.
Sincerely,
Your name
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