How not to fight inflation: raise home building costs by doubling tariffs.
President Biden says he feels your pain regarding inflation, and he’s made public-relations moves to show it, begging ports to move goods faster and OPEC to produce more oil. Too bad his Administration’s policies reveal different priorities. Witness the Commerce Department’s decision to raise tariffs on lumber, which will raise building costs in an already strained housing market.
The Commerce Department said last week that it will double the average tariff on Canadian softwood lumber to 17.9% from 8.99%.