The Biden Administration’s Commerce Department announced that it will double anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber producers, from 8.99% to 17.99%. Earlier this year, Commerce said it planned to increase the tariffs to 18.32% but agreed to further study the issue after significant bipartisan pushback from Congress, which AGC supported at the time.

On December 8, President Biden signed Executive Order (EO) on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability that expands on the federal sustainability goals of prior administrations—setting aggressive timelines for achieving reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Of most relevance to the construction industry, the EO calls for net-zero emissions from federal procurement, including sustainable purchasing and the development of a “buy clean” policy to promote the use of construction materials with lower embodied carbon* emissions – specifically calling out concrete and steel. The buy clean policy would extend to federally funded projects. It also directs federal agencies to reduce GHG emissions from their supply chains, which includes tracking the disclosure of climate and sustainability data from their major suppliers.

AGC was successful in its effort to strip several harmful construction provisions from the annual defense bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). For military construction projects, those provisions would have:

AGC Preparing Lawsuit to Further Bolster Mandate Challenges

The Vote, However, Is Largely Symbolic

All 34 lawsuits—including AGC’s, supported by the Construction Advocacy Fund—challenging OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 are now consolidated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The federal government has filed a motion in that court to dissolve the current stay of any enforcement of that standard, including its vaccination/testing mandate, and on December 10, the parties will complete their briefing of that motion. Since November 6, that stay has precluded OSHA from implementing or enforcing the ETS, including requirements that OSHA had scheduled to take effect on December 6. AGC of America expects the court to grant or deny the government’s motion within a matter of days. While significant, the court’s decision will not end the litigation. Its decision on the stay will not be a final decision on the merits of the ETS. That will come later.

That is enforceable under State Construction Laws

Covered Contractors Must Use to Certify Annually and Submit During Evaluations