The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that the United States is poised to more than double duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 34.45 per cent, putting more pressure on U.S. materials costs even before President Donald Trump places any new tariffs on the sector. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says the U.S. levies countervailing and anti-dumping duties totalling 14.4 per cent. Mr. Trump, who was elected promising lower consumer prices, has threatened, but not yet imposed, further import taxes on lumber. The President has ordered a national security investigation into U.S. imports of wood and has said the U.S. does not need Canada's. U.S. homebuilders have warned that more tariffs will only drive up the cost of new housing. The lumber dispute between Canada and the U.S. has been dragging on for decades. The U.S. claims Canadian sawmills are subsidized because forests are largely owned by provincial governments, which they allege set low fees, known as stumpage rates, to undercut the market. Canada denies this. "Our stumpage system is grounded in market principles, with timber sold through open, competitive auctions," Kurt Niquidet, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, said in a statement.