GREAT FALLS — National concerns about tariffs have people worried about remodeling or building homes because they're worried about the prices of appliances and things such as lumber.
Building season has arrived in Montana.
“It starts picking up this time of year. People are starting to get more in building season with the snow going away," Great Falls Lumber president and owner Steven E. Galloway said.
As national concerns regarding lumber prices from Canada increase, Galloway is confident not much will change in the Electric City.
“Well, I think the thing you have to realize with lumber is the majority of it comes from our own country," Galloway said.
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Galloway says tariffs have always been a thing and doesn’t think the addition of new tariffs will do much.
“This is nothing new on lumber. I don't expect it to have any impact on the lumber market," Galloway told MTN.
In fact, he thinks we have bigger concerns than international tariffs.
“I think the hardest thing with when it comes to building right now is just the inflation that we've experienced in the previous administration. It's going to take time to work through that.”
On the appliance side, Cal Eklund of Eklund’s Appliance and Mattress is not so certain.
”We're filling up our warehouse because prices are going to go up," Eklund said. "I don't know how much, it's all over the board, but prices are definitely going to go up.”
Many appliance components come from China, with many whole appliances being assembled in Mexico, so Eklund is working to stay ahead of the tariffs as much as possible.
“I'm concerned you know? What it's going to do it. The prices rise too much. People are going to be cautious about buying new appliances, for sure, or building houses, but I'm optimistic that they'll get this thing so that it's a better balance on trade with Canada and Mexico and China," Eklund said.
Eklund expects price changes to start being seen in a few months, “By summer I think we’ll know what the pricing is gonna be and how much.”
While waiting for the exact impact of the tariffs is going to be a little bit of a waiting game, companies in Great Falls still think that the remodeling season is here to stay.
