Bond market investors who fund most mortgages didn’t panic Friday over reports that the U.S. will impose tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico on Saturday, but details remain sketchy.
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Bond market investors who fund most mortgages didn’t panic Friday over reports that the U.S. will impose tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico on Saturday, but homebuilders are awaiting details on how the tariffs will work.
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President Trump has previously said he intended to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods imported from Canada and Mexico. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday that 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico and 10 percent tariffs on China will take effect Feb. 1.
Citing unnamed administration sources, Reuters reported earlier Friday that the tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods would go into effect March 1, but could allow exemptions for certain products.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) expressed “serious concerns” to Trump Friday about the potential impact of tariffs on housing affordability.
“Our sector relies heavily on a diverse and cost-efficient supply chain for building materials such as lumber, steel, gypsum and aluminum,” NAHB Chair Carl Harris wrote Trump Friday. “While home building is inherently domestic, builders rely on components produced abroad, with Canada and Mexico representing nearly 25 percent of building materials imports. Imposing additional tariffs on these imports will lead to higher material costs, which will ultimately be passed on to home buyers in the form of increased housing prices.”
While the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates three times at the end of last year, mortgage rates have been on the rise — in part due to investors’ fears that Trump’s promises to impose tariffs, cut taxes and deport millions of immigrants could prove to be inflationary.
(The NAHB has also noted in the past that immigrants account for 31 percent of workers in the construction trades, and has advocated for immigration reform rather than mass deportations).
Yields on 10-year Treasury notes, a barometer for mortgage rates, were up only slightly in Friday afternoon trading. After rising from a 52-week low of 3.34 percent to nearly 5 percent, yields on 10-year notes have retreated 50 basis points, to 4.51 percent Thursday.
At a confirmation hearing Wednesday, Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Commerce, billionaire investor Howard Lutnick, dismissed worries that tariffs will reignite inflation, calling such theories “nonsense.”
Lutnick said Mexico and Canada might win exemptions for certain goods if they can tighten their borders to stop fentanyl from entering the U.S.
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