A lawsuit challenging U.S. President Trump’s tariffs targeting Canada has been filed in the US Court of International Trade. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by the non-profit Liberty Justice Center on behalf of U.S. food importer Gellert Global Group, argues Trump’s use of a Depression-era trade statute exceeds his power as president. …US officials have said the latest duties are a response to provincial bans. …The lawsuit also said Canada’s dairy supply management involves policies agreed to under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA. …The lawsuit said the Canadian policies don’t justify the sweeping tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. It notes two of the measures — auto quotas and liquor bans — were actually a response to Trump’s own tariff measures. …A Trump administration official, commenting on background, said the president’s actions will be vigorously defended in court.
- Related in CNBC News: Trump sued over 50% tariffs on Canada in latest trade challenge
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WASHINGTON — The NAFTA Secretariat has published formal notice of an October 5, 2026, binational panel decision concerning countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber products. The panel affirmed the US Department of Commerce’s Second Redetermination on Remand in the matter of Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination. The decision relates to a challenge filed under NAFTA’s Article 1904 dispute settlement mechanism, which provides for binational panel review of trade remedy determinations.
Western red cedar, resawn and kiln-dried in New Zealand and on its way to American lumberyards, is now before the US Court of International Trade, with a New Hampshire distributor challenging a customs finding that it evaded the duties charged on Canadian softwood. That is 
Coastal Specialty Forest Products has 
The US hardwood industry is still working through a deep capacity contraction. At the 2026 National Hardwood Lumber Association convention, Hardwood Review said it had identified 151 publicly announced sawmill and yard closures since the start of 2023, while other presentations highlighted a larger role for log exports and NHLA’s longer-term efforts to develop new structural and value-added markets for hardwoods. Highlights include:
Lumber futures fell below $527 per thousand board feet, retreating toward a two-year low amid persistent weakness in the US housing market. Homebuilder confidence has fallen to its lowest level in 14 years, as high mortgage rates, labor shortages and high construction costs continue to weigh on the sector. Mortgage rates have climbed to 7.4%, their highest level in three years, raising borrowing costs, dampening housing demand and weighing on prices. On the other hand, trade tensions with Canada continue to constrain lumber availability and pressuring prices. Although the US Department of Commerce lowered antidumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 24.75% from 35.16%, a separate 10% US tariff brings total duties to 34.75%, limiting the potential for a supply recovery.
Lumber futures rose to $540 per thousand board feet, their highest level in nearly a month, as Hurricane Isaias threatened supplies across key producing regions. The storm swept through the US Gulf Coast, causing major power outages in Alabama and Mississippi, both significant lumber-producing states, raising concerns over supply disruptions and pressuring prices. Lumber supplies were already constrained by escalating trade tensions between the US and Canada. …However, gains remain tempered by weakness in the US housing market. Mortgage rates have climbed to 7.4%, their highest in nearly three years, raising borrowing costs for homebuyers and weighing on housing demand.
The Federal Reserve’s inflation fight is running into a growing complication: The housing market is slumping even as broader price pressures persist. Housing data deteriorated further in September, according to separate reports Tuesday, adding to an already complicated policy landscape for the central bank as it contemplates its next move on interest rates. Things appear poised to get worse before they get better. If the Fed raises short-term rates as expected over the next several months, mortgage rates that are already at 7.43% could push even higher, putting a further damper on affordability. Higher home borrowing costs have coincided with a general rise in inflation and a housing shortage. “The housing market is about to go into a deep sleep unless Washington can do a 180 on its policies and make the cost of a new home more affordable,” wrote Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds. 
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,400,000. This is 0.2 percent below the revised August rate of 1,403,000 and is 3.0 percent below the September 2025 rate of 1,444,000. Single-family authorizations in September were at a rate of 845,000; this is 4.0 percent below the revised August figure of 880,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were
WASHINGTON – US single-family homebuilding and permits for future construction fell sharply in September as higher mortgage rates suppressed demand, suggesting residential investment resumed its declining trend in the third quarter. Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, dropped 4.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 859,000 units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday. Single-family building permits decreased 4.0% to a rate of 845,000 units. Mortgage rates have surged in recent weeks, with the 30-year fixed rate averaging 7.40% last week. …Slumping sales have led to a glut of unsold houses on the market, further reducing the incentive for developers to break ground on new single-family housing projects. Despite the overhang of new single-family homes, there is a national housing shortage. …Residential investment rebounded in the second quarter, also reflecting renovations. The rise followed five straight quarterly declines.
U.S. kitchen cabinet sales fell 4.3% in August 2026 from a year earlier to $177.6 million, according to the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA), whose Trend of Business report covers 47 participating manufacturers. Custom cabinet sales rose 12.2% to $54.0 million, semi-custom sales fell 9.0% to $95.0 million and stock sales fell 13.6% to $28.6 million. The number of cabinets shipped fell 11.4% to 437,697. In January–August, participants’ sales fell 6.3% to $1.41 billion. Custom sales fell 0.1% to $393.0 million, semi-custom fell 8.5% to $792.0 million and stock fell 8.3% to $228.7 million. Cabinet quantity fell 9.7% to 3.63 million. KCMA estimates the overall U.S. cabinet market for 2026 at $20.9 billion in sales and 92 million cabinets. [END]
Capacity utilization at U.S. sawmills and wood preservation plants rose to 76.5% in the second quarter from 70.8% in the previous quarter, according to the Census Bureau. That was the highest since the second quarter of 2025, when it was 77.6%. The Federal Reserve’s industrial production index for sawmills and wood preservation averaged 108.4 in the quarter, up 4.1% from the previous quarter and up 0.7% from a year earlier. Utilization at makers of veneer, plywood and engineered wood products rose to 75.5% from 67.8% in the previous quarter (65.5% a year earlier), while at other wood product manufacturers it rose to 73.3% from 70.1% (67.9% a year earlier). The survey measures actual output as a share of full production capability, so it shows how hard plants are running rather than how much capacity exists. The estimates are subject to revision.
Mortgage rates increased again this week, with the average 30-year rate hitting 7.4 percent for the first time since November 2023, Freddie Mac reported. The average 30-year mortgage rate rose 12 basis points from last week, when it was 7.28 percent, according to the government-sponsored company. This rate has risen for seven consecutive weeks and has sat above 7 percent for three weeks straight — the first such stretch since April 2024 and May 2024. …Home loan borrowing costs have spiked amid the U.S.’s ongoing war with Iran and a global bond market sell-off, as investors flee the market over persistent inflation and elevated oil prices. The week before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, the average 30-year mortgage rate was 142 basis points less. The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield similarly rose following the war. …Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is trading at more than $103 per barrel as of Thursday afternoon.
In the third quarter of 2026, the NAHB Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 62, up one point compared to the previous quarter. The RMI has remained within a narrow band between 59 and 70 for the past four years. Remodeler sentiment remains the standout sector within the housing industry, when compared to its single-family and multifamily counterparts. Despite sentiment remaining stable, remodelers report that economic uncertainty is making some potential customers hesitant to move forward with projects. Labor shortages, exacerbated by immigration enforcement and competition from data center construction, are extending the time it takes to complete projects. Nevertheless, remodeling is gaining share in the overall construction market, as it is somewhat less sensitive than new construction to the current elevated interest rates. NAHB’s projection for remodeling activity will remain stable in 2026 and grow slightly in 2027, which is consistent with today’s reading.
When the US Forest Service opened 947 acres of western Colorado to commercial logging in July, officials expected at least a few companies to jump at the opportunity. Not one did. None had bid a year earlier, either. Surging fuel costs and plummeting prices for Ponderosa pine made it impossible for them to turn a profit, so they all skipped it. That isn’t just a problem for the loggers. Timber sales are an important tool for preventing catastrophic wildfires, helping to thin dense underbrush and other vegetation that builds up over decades. …Yet loggers are passing up on timber sales across federal lands because of an accelerating downturn in the industry. Demand has been cratering for some wood products, especially pulpwood used to make paper. “If we don’t have a viable economic market,” said Scott Dane of the American Loggers Council. “Without markets, there is no forest management.” [to access the full story a NY Times subscription is required]
L’ANSE, Michigan – The Alberta sawmill, designed by Henry Ford, is being restored by Michigan Tech and the Baraga County Historical Society to allow the public to experience the building. The sawmill opened on Sept. 1, 1936, and closed on June 30, 1954. Michigan Tech operated it for research until the 1980’s, and it was closed for public viewing in the early 2000’s for safety concerns. “This is a really important piece of history for the forest sector, the Keweenaw and this region has done a really good job I think with preserving our history and our knowledge of the mining era and our mining history but in terms of our forestry history, this is one of the few locations that really preserves it, highlights it,” said Mark Rudnicki, Ford Center and Forest director. Restoration work has been underway for years, with new siding donated by Louisiana-Pacific and a new roof recently installed.