Illinois-based North American Builders Supply filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 3.

Unlike Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which involves the liquidation of assets, Chapter 11 reorganizes a company's debt to keep it open and solvent. The filing was voluntary, according to filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

North American Builders Supply provides products like lumber, millwork, windows, doors, siding, hardware, ceiling systems and drywall. The filing shows the company has estimated liabilities of $1 million to $10 million. The filing states the company currently owes nearly 50 unsecured creditors.

Considered a rival to big-box companies like Home Depot and Lowe's, the company is among those affected by the Trump administration's tariffs on everything from lumber to metal. According to the National Association of Home Builders, softwood lumber prices have been volatile in recent years due to increased demand, tariffs, supply-chain difficulties and insufficient domestic production.

Overall sales in the construction industry are stagnent or declining. Home Depot, for instance, saw comparable sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 increasing by only 0.2%, and comparable sales in the U.S. increased 0.1%. For Lowe's, comparable sales for the third quarter increased 0.4%.

In August 2025, the Department of Commerce announced it was more than doubling its countervailing duties rate on Canadian softwood lumber imports from 6.74% to 14.63%. Coupled with an anti-dumping rate of 20.6%, tariffs on Canadian lumber total 35.2%.

Customers and construction-based companies are also dealing with increased home prices. The median of new home prices is $413,500 as of August, up 1.9% from July, according to the latest data. The median price of existing homes is $427,700 in August, also up 1.9% from the previous month.

A recent NAHB study estimates that a $1,000 increase in the median new home price ($425,786) would price 140,436 U.S. households out of the market.

The U.S. Supreme Court could deliver a decision on President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs any day now. The justices heard arguments on Nov. 5 as to what, if any, tariffs Trump could impose based on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Lower courts determined Trump exceeded his presidential powers in implementing his “Liberation Day” tariffs last April using the IEEPA. These placed “reciprocal” tariffs of up to 50% on countries that ran trade deficits with the U.S.