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IPFS News Link • Free Trade

Trump Just Imposed a New Tax on Lumber

• fee.org by Mark J. Perry

"Trump slaps first tariffs on Canadian lumber," "Tariff on Canadian lumber sends a stern message," "Trump Administration To Impose 20 Percent Tariff On Canadian Lumber," and "Trump slaps duty on lumber from Canada." In each case, those news reports miss a few very critical points: a) Canadian lumber doesn't pay the tariff, b) Canadian lumber companies won't pay the tariff, and c) American lumber-buying companies (mostly home builders) will pay the tariff, which will be passed along to home buyers in the form of higher new home prices. Therefore, it's more accurate to report that Trump has just slapped stiff 20% tariffs (lumber taxes) on the American people, not Canada.

I've taken the liberty of making some edits to the New York Times article "In New Trade Front, Trump Slaps Tariffs on Canadian Lumber" to reflect more accurately the viewpoint of the American consumer and American lumber-buying companies (home builders), and expose tariffs for what they really are: price-raising, job-killing, prosperity-destroying trade policies that involve the government-sanctioned "legal plunder" of Americans (home buyers and home builders in this case) by domestic producers (domestic lumber producers):


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