[Washington, D.C.] Today, the Trump Administration announced that a Phase One trade agreement has been reached between the United States and China. As a part of this deal, the U.S. will cancel a proposed 15 percent tariff on additional goods imported from China that were expected to go into effect on December 15th. In addition, the Administration announced the Phase One deal would cut some of the tariffs that are already in place. While the items on Lists 1-3 would stay at 25 percent, the items on List 4A would be reduced from 15 percent to 7.5 percent. The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) released the following statement.
“NLBMDA is pleased by news of a trade deal with China and are hopeful that this will bring much needed stability to U.S.-China relations”, said NLBMDA President & CEO Jonathan Paine. “However, this agreement does not include tariff relief for imports on Lists 1-3 which contain many products used in residential and commercial construction. Since the Section 301 tariffs were first implemented in 2018, NLBMDA has been strong in advocating our concerns with the Trump Administration regarding the impact that these tariffs have on our industry, the economy and U.S.-China relations. As negotiations continue with China on a long-term agreement, NLBMDA reiterates our call for the elimination of all Section 301 tariffs and for the Trump Administration to provide relief and certainty for lumber and building material dealers.”