Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday the Trump administration is considering declaring a national housing emergency to address soaring home prices and limited supply.
“We may declare a national housing emergency in the fall,” Bessent told the Washington Examiner in a Labor Day interview.
He said interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve would help ease prices but added the administration is also weighing steps to expand supply and reduce costs. “We’re trying to figure out what we can do, and we don’t want to step into the business of states, counties and municipal governments. I think everything is on the table,” he said.
Bessent declined to detail specific executive actions but noted officials are reviewing ways to standardize local building and zoning codes, lower closing costs, and possibly exempt certain construction materials from tariffs.
Lumber costs have been especially volatile this year under Trump’s tariff policies, given U.S. reliance on Canadian imports.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported that as of the week ending Aug. 22, the composite price of framing lumber was up 5.8% year-over-year, while lumber futures were 19.1% higher than a year ago despite recent declines.
The Commerce Department in July announced that it would more than double countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports from 6.74% to 14.63%. Canadian lumber is also subject to an anti-dumping tariff of 20.6%, which brings the total rate applied to Canadian lumber to 35.2%, up from 14.4%, the NAHB noted.
More over at Fox Business:
Trump admin weighs national housing emergency, Treasury's Bessent says https://t.co/gkhU2Q9LWp
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) September 2, 2025
Thank you for visiting