Tariffs are hiking renovation costs
U.S. preliminary duties are pushing up the price of renovation materials — reports say the Commerce Department set preliminary tariffs at nearly 25%, and that higher costs are showing up for items like lumber and paint ( ). Provincial leaders in Canada are already publicly pushing back — B.C. Premier David Eby urged the U.S. to negotiate, and Ontario has called for complete elimination of duties as contractors and homebuyers absorb the increases ( ).
U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber are feeding into renovation bills, with contractors and homeowners facing higher prices for basic materials like lumber and paint. (federalregister.gov, truthout.org) The U.S. Commerce Department published preliminary results on April 9, 2025, in its latest countervailing-duty review of Canadian softwood lumber, covering shipments from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Commerce said subsidized Canadian lumber entered the United States during that period and invited comments on the preliminary findings. (federalregister.gov) British Columbia Premier David Eby said on April 10, 2026, that the new preliminary U.S. determination put total duties at just under 25 percent, down from a current rate above 35 percent. Eby told delegates in Vancouver that the United States still cannot produce enough wood to meet domestic demand. (halifax.citynews.ca) Tariffs work like a tax at the border: importers pay them when goods enter the country, and those costs often move through wholesalers to contractors and buyers. A Capital and Main report published by Truthout on April 11, 2026, described a South Carolina couple scaling back renovation plans as lumber and paint prices rose. (truthout.org) The price effects are showing up beyond one remodel. Yale Budget Lab estimates cited by Truthout said tariffs drove 86 percent of the increase in imported household-goods prices through January 2026, with especially strong pass-through in durable goods such as furniture and appliances. (truthout.org) Home builders have been warning for months that lumber duties spill into housing costs. The National Association of Home Builders said Canada supplies roughly 85 percent of U.S. softwood lumber imports and that builders in its April 2025 survey estimated recent tariff actions added $10,900 to the cost of a typical home. (nahb.org) Ontario is pressing the same affordability argument. In an April 11, 2026, statement, ministers in Premier Doug Ford’s government said the province wants complete elimination of U.S. softwood lumber duties, even if the rate is reduced later this year. (wireservice.ca) Ontario has been making that case since the previous U.S. increase. In an Ontario government statement from August 2025, ministers said higher duties would raise construction costs, worsen housing affordability for U.S. families, and threaten a forest sector that generated nearly $23 billion in revenue in 2022 and supported more than 137,000 jobs. (news.ontario.ca) Canada has also kept trade pressure in reserve. Ottawa said it removed most counter-tariffs on U.S. goods on September 1, 2025, while leaving tariffs on U.S. steel, aluminum, and automobiles in place as negotiations continued. (canada.ca) For renovators, the dispute is less about trade law than timing and invoices. As long as duties remain in place and suppliers keep passing costs through, projects that penciled out a year ago can come back with a higher materials line. (truthout.org, nahb.org)
