WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)—New construction in Wichita could be affected by additional tariffs from Canada because much of the soft lumber in the United States comes from the north. The National Association of Home Builders says two essential materials used in home construction, softwood lumber and g ypsum, are sourced mainly from Canada and Mexico.  Wichita among cities most reliant on Canada money Wichita builders use Canadian lumber for home construction, which has a current tariff of 14.5%. Former President Joe Biden set that tariff rate in 2024. If a 25% tariff is added on top of that, the Wichita Area Builders Association's CEO says that will cause more uncertainty in the builders' community, raising concerns about supply and demand and the costs associated with construction. "We're getting close to 40% tariff on Canadian lumber that will drive up costs of new homes. It will also drive up the cost of our domestic supply of lumber here. The laws of supply and demand still apply. The domestic demand for domestic materials will skyrocket overnight, but our supply is not going to go up overnight," President and CEO of Wichita Area Builders Association Tyler York said. "The effect of tariffs is that it puts increased cost burden on to builders when they are trying to build out their supply and search for products. And ultimately those costs are passed on to the consumer. That's the American home buyer trying to achieve the American dream," he continued. President Trump expected to announce sweeping tariffs on Wednesday He also said that this will ultimately impact housing affordability and attainability in Wichita, which the city is already dealing with due to a housing and labor shortage. He says it'll become clearer in the coming days what these tariffs would mean for the price of construction. Researchers at Wichita State University released their housing forecast in October. They predicted about a 5% increase in single-family builds this year, but that remains far below what's needed to bring housing back into balance. A WSU report states that Wichita is already lagging behind the u-s average regarding new home construction. ...read more read less