Lars Larson: Trump and tariffs

By Lars Larson
NW and national radio host,

America’s new tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada rolled in recently.

Donald Trump has used tariffs as a powerful bargaining tool with positive effects in the less than 2 months he has served as President.

One area of tariffs holds a special interest for me: wood.

I’ve wondered out loud for the last 30 years why a country with so much of its own timber would buy 2 by 6s from someone else .

Federal, state and local governments in the U.S. own 300-million acres of trees.

Private companies own 50% more of that.

Yet, 30 percent of the lumber we buy comes from America’s future 51st state.

It would be like Saudi Arabia importing oil…or Hollywood importing pedophiles.

I hope those tariffs kickstart America’s timber industry.

It would mean jobs, and taxes, and keeping America’s forests safe from fires.

Instead, we let Canada dump its excess lumber in America at prices that cripple our industry.

How else can you explain 35-thousand employees of the United States Forest Service, managing a quarter of a billion acres of trees…and losing money.

Donald Trump can change that.