Trump's Feud With Canada Could Cost US Homebuyers

President Trump's new tough-on-Canada stance is causing headaches for industries on both sides of the border and could end up hurting American homebuyers, analysts say. The president slapped new tariffs of up to 24% on Canadian lumber imports this week and while this will give American producers a boost, the National Association of Home Builders estimates it will add more than $1,200 to the price of new homes as builders pass higher costs on to buyers, CNBC reports. Lumber costs have already gone up more than 20% this year, partly in anticipation of Trump taking a hardline stance on trade with Canada. The lumber tariff follows Trump's complaint about "unfair" Canadian dairy farmers last week.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Tuesday that you "cannot thicken this border without hurting people on both sides of it," while Trump said "Canada's been very rough on the United States," the AP reports."I love Canada," Trump said. "But they've outsmarted our politicians for many years." The White House says Trump had an "amicable" conversation with Trudeau later in the day. Canada has vowed to fight the "unfair" lumber tariff, and former US ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman tells Bloomberg that the public nature of Trump's comments is not helping the situation. "It’s just a huge mistake, to take your best friend and next door neighbor and start poking at them really hard," he says. (More Canada stories.)