Pappas Slams Trump’s Tariffs on Costs for Small Businesses and Housing Construction, Meets with Forest Products Industry Leaders

Yesterday Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a small business owner, met with New Hampshire forest products industry leaders to discuss how President Trump’s sweeping and chaotic tariffs, which amount to a national sales tax, are raising costs for small businesses and housing construction across the state. 

New Hampshire has a vibrant forest products industry that contributes to the state’s economy with an economic output of over $2 billion and employs over 7,500 workers. New Hampshire exports account for 7% of the state’s gross domestic product in 2023, the highest percentage of exports of any New England state, meaning that New Hampshire businesses are more vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs. The state continues to face a housing crisis, and it’s estimated that the state needs 90,000 more units by 2040. Tariffs are projected to raise housing construction costs in the U.S. by $7,500 to $10,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

“President Trump’s sweeping tariffs are creating chaos for New Hampshire families, small businesses, and our economy,” said Congressman Pappas. “I joined New Hampshire businesses in the forest products industry to hear directly from them how this administration’s tariff policy is negatively impacting their work. There are real consequences for landowners, loggers, saw mills, and lumber yards in New Hampshire with this trade war, and it also hurts our ability to support the construction of the new housing that our state desperately needs. Time is of the essence for these businesses and their workers, and I’ll continue to fight this unpredictable, backward economic policy that is hurting the bottom line and making products more expensive for Granite Staters.”

“These tariffs and trade wars could not have come at a worse time. As an industry still reeling from the last trade war in 2018 and COVID, which disrupted our operations, the last thing we need is more obstacles and additional costs,” said Jasen Stock, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association. “The tariffs are impacting the entire forest products supply chain from landowners to sawmills and home builders.”

“Canada and China are the two biggest countries we export to which these tariffs have effectively shut off those markets for us, so as a business we are scrambling on how to continue to operate,” said Joe Carrier, General Manager of HHP Inc., a hardwood sawmill. “The forest products industry is a long, traditional New Hampshire industry, and I worry it will not be able to survive these tariffs. It’s difficult to plan for our future or grow with this uncertainty.”

Background: 

Pappas has loudly and strongly opposed President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on New Hampshire’s #1 trading partner, Canada, and U.S. allies. Yesterday Pappas joined colleagues to highlight the negative impact President Trump’s widespread tariffs will have on New Hampshire’s small business community and how they will raise costs for Granite Staters, calling on the administration to reverse course.

Pappas is a small business owner and former member of the House Small Business Committee. He leads legislation to help rural job creators access capital and export their products, has passed legislation to improve small businesses’ chances of receiving federal procurement contracts, and is fighting to lower taxes for small businesses by restoring common-sense tax policy that incentivizes investments in research and innovation.

Pappas is working to ensure Granite State communities have the resources they need to increase the affordable housing stock and tackle the housing crisis. Pappas recently helped introduce the bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act to support the financing and development of affordable housing by expanding and strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Last year Pappas and the New Hampshire delegation welcomed more than $30 million in federal grants to build more affordable housing across the Granite State.