As Congress returns to Washington, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) is urging congressional leaders and the Administration to address growing cost and supply pressures stemming from recently implemented Section 338 tariffs on Canadian building materials. In a letter sent Monday to Mike Johnson, Hakeem Jeffries, John Thune and Chuck Schumer, NLBMDA urged for targeted relief for essential building materials where domestic production is insufficient to meet US demand. NLBMDA also called for greater stability and predictability in the US-Canada trade relationship, citing the highly integrated nature of the North American building materials supply chain. …In a recent member survey, 80% of respondents reported sourcing or availability impacts, while nearly 87% reported higher supplier prices. Dealers also cited reduced shipments from Canadian suppliers, longer lead times and difficulty identifying domestic alternatives that can readily meet demand. …NLBMDA also highlighted the broader uncertainty created by sudden changes in tariff policy.
President Trump’s tariffs on Canada are creating clear winners and uneasy allies, with steel and lumber producers embracing the protection while alcohol and dairy groups see the levies as a bargaining chip to push Ottawa to the negotiating table. Steel producers are the most vocal. …Beyond steel, the US lumber industry says Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canadian wood have given it a boost. Domestic lumber producers are projected to add 2.5 billion board feet of capacity in the next two years. That translates to 1,667 more workers at the mills, 4,150 jobs in supplier industries and 3,100 jobs in surrounding communities, according to the U.S. Lumber Coalition. The coalition noted that Canada’s US market share plummeted from roughly 35% to 19% after first-term tariffs. …Yet these protections carry a price. Builders and manufacturers are paying more for steel and lumber. …While protective tariffs shield primary producers, they squeeze downstream industries caught in the crossfire.
Chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with US Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego about the impact of the US-Canada trade war on the state of Arizona. Plus, Janet Mills, governor of Maine, talks about the trade war’s effect on her state. Then, a Michigan-based furniture business owner and an Ontario-based distillery owner describe what the tariffs have meant for their businesses. …The US president spoke about the state of relations with Canada this past weekend while on a trip to Ireland, saying… “Canada wants to make a deal very badly”. …But not all US- elected officials are on board with the president. Ruben Galgo, a Democratic senator from Arizona posted this past week saying Trump’s actions against Canada have made things more expensive for Americans. …Janet Mills is another Democratic governor said “what the president is saying and doing in recent months and years is not reflective of how we as a state feel about people of Canada. 
Prime Minister Carney will convene his cabinet today in Banff, Alta., a day after US President Trump claimed Canada is “dying” to make a trade deal. Both countries have imposed levies on a wide range of imported goods. Canadian counter-tariffs, which went into effect on Tuesday in response to American levies, cover $27.6 billion in American steel, dairy, paper, and other goods. The same day, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders, barring a series of Canadian imports to the U.S. outright, including motorcycles, booze and whey. He has also signed an order to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” criticized Canada’s relative lower dollar, and posted a series of memes – one which called Carney “governor,” and another depicting Canada and Greenland under an American flag. …Canada will scale back environmental review for major energy projects. …Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre heads to Washington. …Democrats call Trump’s trade offensive “pointless”.
American sawmilling is adding capacity faster than it is using it, with 2.1 billion board feet due in the South by 2028, net of every closure already announced. That is according to Forisk, the forest industry consultancy, which tracks more than 2,350 North American mills and logged fifteen sawmill projects in the third quarter alone. “We searched for a buyer… for our mill in Montrose, Colorado,” president Jim Neiman said. Twain Lumber met the opposite condition in Virginia, buying a mill that had been idle since 2024. Twelve of the fifteen projects added capacity, and the three that took it out were all Canadian, with Canfor closing Fox Creek in Alberta for good and Western Forest Products holding Cowichan Bay in British Columbia down since May. Canadian producers have worked both sides of that trade for a decade, and West Fraser shut down 100 Mile House in British Columbia last year while expanding its Henderson facility in Texas.
In this update, you’ll find these stories and more:
Washington businesses are bracing for the impact of Canadian tariffs on American goods. One of the state’s largest industries, lumber, is already feeling the pressure. One company says uncertainty over trade policy is raising the cost of imported materials, weakening demand, and making it harder to budget projects. Tariffs might be a short term thing, but the repercussions of them play out for years. Canada is Washington’s 2nd largest export market with more than $7 billion in goods shipped north of the border last year. Governor Bob Ferguson says exports have already topped $4 billion this year. [.5 min video]
BOISE, Idaho — Tensions between the US and its second-largest trade partner — and Idaho’s top partner — boiled over last month when President Trump lashed out at Canada with a slew of new tariffs. …Canadian officials said last week that they were “targeting” products that would affect certain states as they responded with tariffs of their own. …Idaho exports more goods to its northern neighbor than it does to its next six largest markets — Taiwan, Mexico, Singapore, Japan, China and Malaysia. Agricultural and food products are the state’s top exported goods, and Canada is the biggest market for them. …Wood, paper, pulp and printing products are also on the list of items facing 50% tariffs from both sides. …Idaho imports wood and paper products from Canada more than twice the amount it exports. …Trump’s new round of tariffs is another way to target Canadian wood, which this time affects different types of plywood.
Regulators in Vermont have issued a waiver to permit biomass plants Ryegate Power and the McNeil Generating Station in Burlington to purchase low-grade wood that had been destined for a Glens Falls mill, Finch Paper, before it suddenly discontinued its pulpwood operation in July. Typically, per a condition in its permitting, Ryegate’s wood comes from harvests that are initially reviewed by Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists. “A temporary waiver of [Ryegate’s] harvesting policy requirements would allow wood that was intended for Finch to be sold to the Ryegate Power Station without otherwise required Department of Fish and Wildlife review and approval,” the Vermont Public Utilities Commission (PUC) order stated. According to testimony provided to the PUC, Finch purchased approximately 2,000 tons per week of softwood and hardwood from Vermont. It was the primary market for about 40% of the state’s pulp and nearly all its hemlock pulpwood.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills says tariffs on lumber products have been difficult for the state’s economy to absorb. [CBC video 1.42 min]
Softwood roundwood supply has remained essentially flat since 2000 despite continued growth in overall roundwood production, and is forecast to increase by only about 0.5% annually through 2035. Demand for construction timber, packaging and biomass is expected to continue growing faster than supply. The result is a progressively tighter supply-demand balance, with increasing pressure on the availability and real prices of softwood logs. …North American softwood roundwood supply has declined by almost 20%, while Europe/Russia and the rest of the world have each increased by about 18%.
U.S. 50% duties on covered Canadian pulp and paper products meet Canada’s new tariffs of up to 50% on U.S. tissue, paper and dissolving pulp. …The flashpoint for pulp and paper came after the U.S. imposed additional duties under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 on covered Canadian goods, with the measures taking effect Aug. 22. Among the affected products are: Chemical bleached softwood pulp, including NBSK, a key strength fiber used in U.S. tissue and towel production, and Toilet or facial tissue stock” and other specified household and sanitary paper products used by U.S. converters. …The tariff shock is also affecting corporate planning. …The broader concern for tissue manufacturers is the potential combination of higher fiber costs, changing sourcing strategies and pressure on margins. …Competitive pressure could limit how much of the increase is passed through immediately, but prolonged tariffs could eventually put pressure on manufacturing costs, tissue prices and product economics.
Lumber futures fell below $555 per thousand board feet, reaching its lowest level in nine months, as retaliatory tariffs from Canada on US goods took effect, weighing down demand. Ottawa had announced counter-tariffs of 25% on US lumber and 50% on Plywood following US tariffs on several lumber-related goods. US forestry groups have long accused Canada of distorting the market, as 94% of Canadian forestland is publicly owned compared to 58% privately owned in the US, allowing Canadian lumber to be sold at a lower price. The fallout is hitting the forest sector of both countries, as selling lumber prices went up immediately after the news, pushing demand lower. Fall is usually a time for renovations, however, elevated prices weighs on the sector. Meanwhile, US housing remains subdued, with lumber-intensive single-family construction spending falling 3.2% in July, while elevated mortgage rates continue to weigh on homeownership.
OTTAWA — Canada’s trade surplus narrowed sharply in July as exports of energy and metal products shrank while imports rose, just weeks before Washington’s new 50% tariffs begin to show up in statistics. The trade surplus was C$769 million (US$557 million), compared with a four-year high surplus of C$4.2 billion posted a month ago, Statistics Canada said. Exports dropped 2.3%, while imports increased 2.2%. Amid an escalating trade dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Canada has been seeking to reduce its dependence on its neighbour and largest trading partner. The U.S. accounted for 66.35% of Canada’s total exports in July, down from 69.39% in June and 72.64% a year ago. However, Canada’s import dependence on the U.S. has only narrowed to 59% in the last 12 months compared with 62% in 2024. However, Washington’s latest duties, imposed last month, will provide a tougher test for exporters in the coming months.
Boosting trade with a more diverse array of international partners would only plug part of the hole in Canada’s economy if the U.S. were to withdraw from the North American trade pact, says a new Deloitte Canada report. So Canada must look at measures beyond trade diversification to help make up the difference, such as removing interprovincial trade barriers and fostering new industries, wrote the authors of “
AAA says the national average for diesel reached an unprecedented $5.98 per gallon on September 10, a new high for a fuel whose effects stretch well beyond filling stations. The increase is likely to reach people who never purchase diesel directly, showing up instead in the cost of everyday items and in higher home-heating expenses. More broadly, diesel is a key fuel for trucks and ships, and Grist described how rising diesel costs can feed into the prices of essentials including groceries and lumber. Compared with late February, when the United States and Israel went to war with Iran, AAA figures show diesel prices are about $2.31 higher. Grist also noted that the last major high point came in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped send diesel to $5.82 per gallon. David Ortega at Michigan State University, explained how these increases typically move through the economy.
WASHINGTON — U.S. inflation accelerated last month as gas prices spiked in the wake of renewed fighting in the Middle East, underscoring the affordability challenges that are top of mind for many voters with midterm elections now just seven weeks away. The consumer price index rose 3.4% last month compared with a year ago, the Labor Department said Friday, the same as in July. But on a monthly basis, inflation quickened, as costs jumped 0.4% from July to August, up from an increase of just 0.1% the previous month. The figures show that inflation remains stubbornly elevated, more than five years after prices first soared as the economy emerged from the COVID pandemic. Persistent inflation has presented a major challenge for the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve. …The larger-than-expected monthly increase in core prices will likely embolden those Fed officials who have pushed for the central bank to lift its benchmark interest rate.
Mortgage rates increased in August as Treasury yields remained elevated amid persistent inflation concerns. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.67% in August, up 13 basis points (bps) over July. Since the conflict in the Middle East began, the 30-year mortgage rate has jumped by more than 60 bps. The average 15-year rate averaged 5.98% in July, up 7 bps from July and 55 bps from the end of February. Mortgage rates are now roughly on par with their levels a year ago, with the 30-year rate 6 bps higher and the 15-year rate 24 bps higher. The 10-year Treasury yield, a key benchmark for long-term borrowing, rose 10 bps to an average of 4.68% in August, Yields rose in the later part of the month amid a broader selloff in global government bonds. 
SEATTLE — Architect Susan Jones says …“For most of the 20th century, the architecture community has been separated from the origins of the materials we build with”. …Jones, along with a growing chorus of architects, engineers and forestry experts in Seattle and beyond, believes building with wood is better for our cities, and for our forests. …Mass timber buildings offer a more sustainable path forward. Steel and concrete release large amounts of greenhouse gases. …Erica Spiritos at the 
Lexington, Ky.— Wood has been used to build homes and other structures for thousands of years. Now, new technology is allowing builders to use it in ways that would have been difficult to imagine just a few decades ago. Chad Niman, forest products Extension specialist in the University of Kentucky Department of Forestry and Natural Resources says cross-laminated timber (CLT) is changing the way that structures are built around the U.S. and world, making it important to keep up with the development of this construction method to improve the health of our forests and buildings. The UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment will bring together experts from across the nation for the 2026 Regional Cross-Laminated Timber Conference, Oct. 12-14 at The Campbell House in Lexington. The three-day conference will focus on CLT and other types of mass timber. 
SOUTH BEND, Indiana — A massive fire early this morning in downtown South Bend, bringing in a ton of resources. The flames engulfing what had already been built at Stadium Flats apartments, hours before a groundbreaking ceremony was set to take place. …Assistant fire chief Derek Erquhart said the amount of wood at the construction site helped feed the flames. “It was type 5 wood frame construction, so a lot of lumber. The heat was very intense, is what the firefighters were dealing with when they arrived, and considering the conditions on arrival… that building that was under construction essentially a loss, and our priority was protecting the structures around there,” said SBFD Assistant Chief Derek Erquhart. …Stadium Flats is owned by Real America. …The company’s president telling ABC57 he’s grateful for the first responders, and also that the building process wasn’t further along.
When the European Union’s new anti-deforestation law threatened to expose the environmental costs of logging in North America’s forests, the American paper industry, supported by the U.S. government, mobilized an intense lobbying effort to weaken the legislation. According to lobbying disclosures, the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), have spent nearly $11 million dollars on lobbying efforts since 2023, including on the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). …At stake is relations with a major trading partner. The U.S. exported $879.7 million worth of forest products to the EU in 2025, according to the USDA. It’s not just U.S. officials pushing to weaken the regulation. Canadian industry group Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and Canadian officials have also been outspoken against the rules. …More recently, FPAC and the AF&PA released a joint statement this year — along with the Australian Forest Products Association, the Japan Paper Association, and the New Zealand Forest Owners Association — requesting reduced oversight in low-deforestation-risk countries.
The deadline to submit public comment on a proposed plan to repeal the Roadless Rule has been extended. …Last month, the United States Department of Agriculture filed a plan to repeal it. The agency said in a press release that the rule is a barrier to wildfire risk reduction work. The rescission would increase logging opportunities, aligning with the Trump administration’s goals to increase natural resource extraction in Alaska. That set off a 30-day federally mandated public comment period, allowing the public to submit feedback on the plan, which will be used in developing final rulings and environmental analyses. The public comment period was initially scheduled to end Sept. 21. That deadline has now been pushed to Oct. 6. The new public comment deadline is now after federally mandated subsistence hearings that are scheduled for later this month.
Two Minnesota research facilities facing possible closure will stay open, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The facilities, located in Ely and Grand Rapids, conduct research ranging from climate change to the environment’s effect on people. The sites were among 57 facilities the Forest Service began evaluating for closure this March. On Sept. 3, officials announced that 23 of those sites would cease operations. The Minnesota locations were not among them. A research facility in St. Paul that was not included in the list will also remain open. …The U.S. Forest Service announced this March that Minnesota facilities could close as part of a “sweeping restructuring” of the agency. September’s announcement clarifies that research facilities with “little to no staffing” will shutter and any affected staffers would move to nearby sites. 
After a long journey towards implementation, the controversial European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will become law on December 30, 2026, for large operators in the EU, and on June 30, 2027, for smaller operators. When it finally does, the likes of White Oak, Red Oak, Ash, and Walnut from the US will continue flowing into the European market without major hold-ups, thanks largely to the latest tweaks made to the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)’s free compliance platform. “I’m very confident in saying that we are 100 percent EUDR compliant,” AHEC’s Tripp Pryor told HMR/Fastmarkets about the American Hardwood Assured (AHA) platform. …Last year saw AHEC make additional changes to ensure full compliance with the European Commission’s specifications around geo-coordinates and harvest sourcing. …Recent tweaks have incorporated preparatory AI to upload US Forest Service data and identify individual harvest sites within counties. “This is a natural fit for using an AI system,” Pryor said.
A sweeping bipartisan bill that seeks to prevent catastrophic wildfires and restore fire-ravaged forests has revealed a schism in the nation’s environmental movement as some conservation advocates find themselves allied with a longtime foe: loggers. The Fix Our Forests Act, which Congress is close to passing, aims to speed up forest management projects on public and tribal lands by reducing regulatory and legal hurdles. The proposed legislation comes at a time of increasingly devastating wildfires and has garnered wide support among Republicans and the timber industry. However, the traditional Democratic coalition of environmental groups is split over the role humanity has to play in forest management. …Among the major environmental groups that oppose the legislation are the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity. …But the Nature Conservancy and other groups have voiced support for the bill, citing the constant and imminent threat that increasingly severe wildfires pose to communities and ecosystems.
UNIVERSITY of UTAH — A satellite instrument built to track air pollution has turned out to be a useful early-warning sensor for dying forests. In work covered on 13 September 2026 by Scienmag and published earlier that month by the 
Oregon lawmakers on Sept. 10 approved $123 million to help cover costs from a wildfire season that burned more acres than any year in modern history. The Oregon Legislature’s Joint Emergency Board agreed to allocate $122.8 million to cover costs of fighting blazes that have burned 2.5 million acres, largely in the central and eastern parts of the state. …The 20-member joint committee can allocate funding when the full Legislature isn’t in session. It sent $108 million to the Oregon Department of Forestry, which fights wildland fires, and $15 million to the Department of the State Fire Marshal, which normally works to protect homes from blazes. …While this season saw a record number of acres burned, surpassing the record previously set in 2024, the season still pales in comparison to the impact of the 2020 Labor Day Fires, which burned fewer acres but destroyed far more homes and infrastructure and took 11 lives.
EUGENE, Ore. — After more than 2.5 million acres burned across Oregon this fire season, forestry and agriculture experts gathered in Eugene Thursday to discuss ways to prevent another record-breaking year. The Healthy Forests Roundtable at the Veterans Memorial Association building focused on what participants described as a need to shift more attention toward wildfire prevention and forest management. One of the main solutions discussed was thinning forests to reduce the amount of fuel available to burn. Participants said removing excess trees and vegetation can make forests more resilient when fires start. But they also pointed to a challenge facing that work: Oregon has fewer mills available to process timber removed from forests. …The roundtable also highlighted what participants described as a disconnect between state and federal forest management. Harvests on federal lands have dropped 90% since 1990, according to information presented during the discussion.
A Thurston County, Washington, judge stayed a rule requiring larger riparian buffers on Western Washington timberland, putting on hold a regulation that would take 200,000 acres out of production. Superior Court Judge Christine Schaller on Sept. 3 granted a motion by two timber groups to stay the rule while they challenged the bigger buffers in the Court of Appeals Division II. The timber groups argue the expanded buffers will have negligible environmental benefits, while causing financial hardship to timberland owners and rural economies. …Schaller in August upheld the bigger buffers, saying she found no grounds to overrule the Forest Practices Board. The judge, however, acknowledged that the larger buffers will cause financial hardship and that the appeals court will review her decision. …The board adopted the bigger buffers in a 7-5 vote last year. The Washington Forest Protection Association and Washington Farm Forestry Association are challenging the buffers.
In Oregon’s Tillamook State Forest, a group of incarcerated men gathered around an instructor warning them about the dangers of an over-pressurized firefighting hose. …Such were the risks that these men were willing to take to avoid sleeping in a prison cell. “It’s dangerous, but that’s why we train, and we train hard,” said Jason Russell, a 41-year-old from Salem incarcerated at the South Fork Forest Camp, a state prison. In a few weeks, many of them would be on fire lines alongside thousands of other firefighters battling what would become a record-breaking fire season in Oregon. …But while most firefighters make $25 an hour on the fire line, Oregon’s incarcerated firefighters earn $25 a day. …Inmates earn wildland firefighting certifications and gain experience, which can help with employment opportunities after their prison term ends. Oregon is one of seven states that use prison labor to fight wildfires.
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) today announced five awards totaling $5.5 million through its Accelerating Wood Fiber Markets initiative. The five-year effort will help connect underutilized wood fiber with new buyers and support the long-term economic viability of working forests and the communities that rely on them. The Endowment committed $5 million to the initiative, with an additional $500,000 provided by the Northern Border Regional Commission through its Forest Economy Initiative to support work in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. The funding opportunity drew significant interest from across the country. The Endowment received 76 proposals requesting approximately $86 million, underscoring both the scale of the market challenges facing forest-reliant communities and the demand for practical, locally driven solutions. “These organizations bring deep regional knowledge and practical strategies for creating durable markets,” said Matt Krumenauer, Vice President of Markets at the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities.
New research suggests climate change could leave Canada’s forests increasingly vulnerable to pests and disease in the coming decades, while a federal climate report projects a sharp increase in the area burned by wildfires across the country. A federal government report warns average temperatures in Canada could rise by at least 3.5 C by the end of the century, even if the world achieves net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, researchers at the University of British Columbia say climate change is expected to increase pest and disease damage across much of North America’s forests. The UBC study found more than 80 per cent of the forest area examined could experience higher levels of damage by the middle of the century. “Climate can influence the performance of both trees and the pests,” said Dr. Zihui Wang, a researcher in UBC’s Department of Botany.
