Trump administration to introduce 10% tariff on imported timber in two weeks

A presidential proclamation set out the plans, arguing that timber, lumber, and furniture imports are eroding US national security. The new duties will come under Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Trump’s increasing use of Section 232 comes as he awaits a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of his broader “reciprocal” tariffs on global trading partners, which two lower courts have struck down. It was Section 232 which he used to expand tariffs on steel and aluminium, which Off-Highway Research warned this week was likely to have an inflationary effect on construction equipment for US buyers.

The newly announced timber and lumber tariff rates would start on 14 October. But the proclamation added that duties would increase on 1 January to 30% for upholstered wooden products and 50% for kitchen cabinets and vanities imported from countries that failed to reach an agreement with the United States.

Trump’s proclamation said wood product imports were weakening the US economy, resulting in the persistent threat of closures of wood mills and disruptions of wood product supply chains.

“Because of the state of the United States wood industry, the United States may be unable to meet demands for wood products that are crucial to the national defense and critical infrastructure,” the statement said.

The order added that wood products were used for “building infrastructure for operational testing, housing and storage for personnel and materiel, transporting munitions, as an ingredient in munitions, and as a component in missile-defense systems and thermal-protection systems for nuclear-reentry vehicles.”

The action is expected to have a marked impact on Canada, the biggest softwood lumber supplier to the US. Producers there already face combined US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs of about 35%.

Mexico and Vietnam are also growing suppliers of wooden furniture to the US after Trump hit Chinese furniture products with tariffs of up to 25% during his first term starting in 2018. Those duties have since been raised to about 55% and now could nearly double for cabinets and vanities.

But Trump said tariffs on wood products from Britain would be capped at 10% and those from the European Union and Japan would be capped at 15% - rates in line with the base tariff rate in those framework agreements.