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I once had a point, or should I say, it once had me .
One could come up with a number of good arguments against tariffs. Chris Matthews did not choose well among them. Earlier today, the MSNBC commentator complained that American construction companies would lose access to . Canadian wood? Indeed, Matthews chose this particular import to highlight his opposition to Donald Trump’s tariffs, asking, «What is our plan now? We’re going to create more wood — is that it?»
Who wants to tell him?
Chris Matthews on MSNBC:
«We get so much of our lumber, our two by fours from from Canada.What are we going to do? Have more lumber made in the United States now?!»
«What is our plan now.? We’re going to create more wood. Is that it?!»
«Are we going to make more wood in… pic.twitter.com/cVlvJ6SvEu— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 9, 2025
Great point! It’s not as if lumber grows on trees! [Reads urgent bulletin from home office] Er, wait, I have a correction to make here.
The US does in fact have a robust lumber industry. In 2022 alone, the US exported $43 billion in lumber products globally, according to the World Bank, with Canada being the top importer of American lumber ($11.8 billion). In the same year, though, we imported $72 billion in lumber products, including $28.4 billion from Canada, creating the kind of trade deficits that Trump wants to address through tariff policies. The second-ranking source for lumber imports to the US? China, with $10.4 billion in 2022.
In fact, this is precisely the type of situation in which increased incentives for domestic supply might generate good-paying jobs in the US. The COVID-19 pandemic and the tranches of stimulus checks created a temporary demand bubble for home renovations and construction that sent lumber prices soaring, in large part because supply couldn’t scale up to meet demand.
