Representatives of American manufacturers of hardwood plywood, engineered wood flooring and hardwood veneer urged President Donald Trump to place tariffs on those products to avoid dumping into the U.S.
"Over 100,000 American manufacturing jobs are threatened by the flood of dumped and subsidized decorative hardwood product imports from outside of North America," the Decorative Hardwoods Association said in a news release.
"Columbia Forest Products has spent millions of dollars successfully pursuing trade cases against Chinese dumping and subsidies of hardwood plywood only to see them quickly transship or move parts of production to allied countries," Columbia Forest Products President Greg Pray said in a statement. "Section 232 tariffs on hardwood plywood from these allied Asian countries would be a lifeline to struggling mills in rural communities throughout the United States."
Most imported laminate flooring, engineered flooring and hardwood/plywood had been exempt from tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act-a provision in U.S. law that allows the President to impose tariffs or other restrictions on imports that threaten to impair the national security of the United States. However, come October 14, the aforementioned product categories will be subject to separate "reciprocal tariffs" that could be as much as 20%, depending on the country.
In a proclamation published by the Trump Administration on September 29, the President cited the results of an investigation led by the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick. Specifically, the report found that wood products are being imported into the U.S. "in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States." Furthermore, the Secretary provided recommendations for action under Section 232 to adjust the imports of wood products so that such imports will not threaten to impair the national security of the United States.
In the September 29 proclamation, President Trump wrote: "The Secretary found that present quantities and circumstances of wood product imports are weakening our economy, resulting in the persistent threats of closures of wood mills and disruptions of wood product supply chains, among other things, and diminishing the utilization of production capacity of our domestic wood industry."
Beginning October 14, the Trump administration will impose a 10% tariff on softwood timber and lumber and a 25% tariff on upholstered wooden furniture and kitchen cabinets. On Jan. 1, 2026, the levies on upholstered furniture-such as couches, sofas and chairs-will rise to 30% and kitchen cabinets will see an increase to 50%. Tariffs on wood products from the UK will be capped at 10%, while Japan and the EU face a 15% tariff ceiling.
Not everyone is onboard, though. "These new tariffs will create additional headwinds for an already challenged housing market by further raising construction and renovation costs," wrote National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) chairman, Buddy Hughes. According to the NAHB, the U.S. imports roughly one-third of the lumber it consumes because the country does not produce enough softwood lumber to meet its domestic demand. In the past several weeks, the U.S. Commerce Department has more than doubled tariffs on Canadian lumber from 14.5% to 35%. With the new 10% tariff, Canadian lumber tariffs will rise to 45%.
According to the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies, the United States imports roughly 30% of the lumber that it consumes. A third of the wood products subject to Section 232 levies are sourced from Canada; Vietnam sends 26%, followed by China, which ships 11%. The U.S. lumber industry has sought restrictions on Canadian lumber imports for the past 25 years, which they allege receives unfair Canadian subsidies, according to the Center. They also have accused Canada of dumping its lumber in the U.S. market.
Hardwood flooring suppliers who were willing to go on the record with FCNews said they prepared for what's coming. "In anticipation of the upcoming tariffs, we've significantly increased our U.S. inventory levels to the point that we don't plan to increase any prices in the near future," said Bill Schollmeyer, vice president of sales for R&J Flooring Supply, the U.S. distribution arm for Denali Hardwood, which is produced by a family-run manufacturing operation in Vietnam. "Given the volatility and inconsistency of the various tariff policies, we're simply going to continue with business as usual and work from our existing inventories. It's our hope that the tariffs being considered across our entire industry would be implemented with strategic, long-term planning so that our customers-and consumers-are not subject to constantly changing flooring prices."
