United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) — a free trade treaty that President Trump negotiated in his last term to replace NAFTA — went into effect on July 1, 2020. NAHB lobbied for this trade pact, and President Trump signed the USMCA on Jan. 29.

Building quality, affordable housing for all Americans depends critically on the free and fair trade of building materials with two of our top trade partners — Canada and Mexico. Each year, the U.S. residential construction and remodeling industries rely on tens of billions of dollars in building materials sourced from these two countries. These materials are not simply the constituent parts of a home, they also represent jobs for Americans building those homes.

The price volatility of these imported materials and equipment, driven by policy uncertainty, needlessly drives up housing costs and exacerbates the nation’s housing affordability crisis.

Then on March 6, Trump announced a one-month tariff delay until April 2 on all products from Mexico and Canada that are covered by USMCA. While there is no specific language in the USMCA addressing Canadian softwood lumber, NAHB worked with the White House to ensure it was covered under the latest pause on tariff implementation.