Derek Nighbor
With over 200,000 direct jobs at stake, sector calls on the government of Canada to bring the same urgency to lumber as it has to steel, aluminum, and energy.
Canada’s forest sector is disappointed that yesterday’s discussions in Washington concluded without relief for 232-affected sectors, including lumber, as the long-standing Softwood Lumber dispute and recently applied tariffs on Canada’s wood manufacturing industry continue to put operations and jobs at risk across the country. While we recognize that the talks were described as substantive and appreciate that these negotiations are complex, after eight years of escalating duties on softwood lumber, the lack of tangible progress for forest sector workers and communities is deeply concerning. With more than 200,000 direct jobs and hundreds of towns and cities across Canada depending on a vibrant forest sector, lumber and forest products must be treated as a greater priority in Canada–U.S. trade discussions.
Our industry continues to face unjustified duties and tariffs that harm forestry workers here at home and raise costs for American families building and renovating their homes. We urge the Government of Canada to ensure that lumber and forest products are clearly on the agenda as talks continue this week. “We simply want to see more urgency, and frankly, we were left wanting more in the post-meeting reports coming out of yesterday’s discussions,” said Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada.
The US imports about 40% of the softwood lumber the nation uses each year, more than 80% of that from Canada. President Trump says that the US has the capacity to meet 95% of softwood lumber demand and directed federal officials to update policies and regulatory guidelines to expand domestic timber harvesting and curb the arrival of foreign lumber. …As researchers studying the forestry sector and international trade, we recognize that the US has ample forest resources. But replacing imports with domestic lumber isn’t as simple as it sounds. There are differences in tree species and quality, and U.S. lumber often comes at a higher cost, even with tariffs on imports. Challenges like limited labor and manufacturing capacity require long-term investments, which temporary tariffs and uncertain trade policies often fail to encourage. In addition, the amount of lumber imported tends to mirror the boom-and-bust cycles of housing construction, a dynamic that tariffs alone are unlikely to change.
President Trump ushered in new tariffs on imported furniture, kitchen cabinets and lumber on Tuesday, adding a fresh round of levies as he once again threatened to expand his trade war with China. Tariffs ranging from 10% to 50% on foreign wood products and furniture snapped into effect just after midnight. The tariffs are meant to encourage more domestic logging and furniture manufacturing. But critics say that the levies will raise prices for American consumers and could slow industries including home building that rely on materials from abroad. …Critics have called it a stretch to issue the furniture and lumber tariffs under the national-security-related law. …Some American manufacturers lobbied for the tariffs. …Some economists expect the higher price of lumber, along with home furnishings, will slow the pace of home building. That could set back the Trump administration’s goals of improving a weak housing market. [to assess the full story a NY Times subscription is required]
The US is now collecting tariffs on imported timber, lumber, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and upholstered furniture, duties that threaten to raise the cost of renovations and deter new home purchases. …Trump described his wood and furniture tariffs as helping to “strengthen supply chains… and increase domestic capacity utilization for wood products.” Yet 
President Trump has warned of disaster if the Supreme Court overturns his signature tariffs. For starters, it would unleash a bureaucratic nightmare involving reams of refund paper checks. Should the court uphold a US Court of Appeals ruling that Trump’s country-based tariffs are illegal, the government could owe the bulk of the $165 billion in duties collected so far this fiscal year back to companies that paid them. But they won’t have an easy time getting their money back; refunds are typically issued slowly and while the administration could streamline the process, experts fear that’s unlikely. …That means Trump likely won’t part with the funds easily if the tariffs are struck down, and the administration is expected to move quickly to reimpose levies using other legal authorities if that happens. The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in November in the case.
The Trump administration and its advocates have long sold tariffs as a smart and necessary way to reindustrialize the country, bolster national security, and revitalize the economy more broadly. In practice, however, they put tariffs on cabinets and sofas for “national security” reasons, exempt others because of potential political blowback, and do all sorts of other things that likely undermine the economic and security objectives the administration says its tariffs are achieving. And they do it all with little regard for the facts, economics, or law. Throw in some foolish nostalgia (contra the president, furniture manufacturing is today a tiny share of North Carolina’s economy and workforce), and the furniture tariffs make for an almost-perfect example of the canyon between protectionist rhetoric and US tariff reality. The only thing preventing perfection is that there isn’t a “national emergency” or fake “fiscal crisis” attached.
OLYMPIA, Washington — Washington state is investing $700,000 to support its apple and timber industries, creating at least 270 new jobs, Governor Bob Ferguson announced Thursday. The funding comes from the state’s Economic Development Strategic Reserve Fund, which uses unclaimed lottery prize money to help attract and retain jobs. The money will be split across three projects: Yakima County: $250,000 to prepare a site in Sunnyside for a new apple products processing plant. Forks: $200,000 for infrastructure upgrades at the Forks Industrial Park, where Riverside Forest Products USA plans a sawmill. Spokane Valley: $250,000 to expand a manufacturing facility for Mercer Mass Timber. Governor Ferguson said the investments, combined with private funding, will strengthen the state’s economy. Commerce Director Joe Nguyễn added the funds will help meet infrastructure needs, support local businesses, and create sustainable jobs.
Lumber futures rose past $610 per thousand board feet in mid-October, approaching monthly highs as markets priced in tighter near-term supply and looming trade restrictions. Under newly announced US Section 232 tariffs that take effect on October 14th, imported softwood lumber will face a 10% duty and finished wood goods such as cabinets and furniture will face higher levies, prompting importers to front-load purchases and draw down inventories. Domestic output is also constrained as sawmills run cautiously after years of underinvestment, logging curbs in sensitive regions and slow capacity restarts have limited production. The cost and delay of switching suppliers is material given that Canadian lumber, which supplies much of US demand, already carries elevated antidumping and countervailing duties, intensifying the supply squeeze.
North America’s softwood lumber market looks likely to end 2025 no more settled than it was at the beginning. Producers and buyers alike continue navigating a landscape shaped by fluctuating demand, shifting trade patterns, and an uncertain housing outlook. Despite modest production declines in early 2025, the lumber market remains oversupplied. Mills across the US and Canada are contending with high inventories built up earlier in the year. Expectations of tariff hikes spurred an early rush of exports from Canada to the US, flooding the market while demand was soft. However, in the first half of 2025 softwood lumber exports from Canada to the US declined, while US imports from Europe in the first seven months of 2025 increased by 6% year-over-year. Underlying these supply pressures is a US housing market stuck in the doldrums. August saw an 8.5% decline in overall housing starts, with single-family construction down nearly 7%.
Lumber futures fell toward $600 per thousand board feet, easing from the near two-month high of $615.50 on October 3rd as the prior speculative rally reversed amid softer demand, looming tariff implementation, and inventory rebalancing. Demand has weakened as homebuilders and material buyers pull back amid higher construction costs and tighter mortgage affordability that curb new housing starts. At the same time, many market participants had frontloaded purchases ahead of the US 10% Section 232 tariff on softwood lumber and higher duties on wood furniture and cabinets effective October 14th, creating a short-term inventory overhang that reduced fresh order flow. On the supply side, domestic sawmills have ramped up shipments to cover earlier shortages, while Canadian exporters remain constrained by heavy anti-dumping and countervailing duties that limit flexibility, easing prompt tightness. [END]
In 2024, 17.5% of all new single-family homes started were custom homes. This share decreased from 18.8% in 2023 and from 20.4% in 2022, according to data tabulated from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). The custom home market consists of contractor-built and owner-built homes—homes built for owner occupancy on the owner’s land, with either the owner or a builder acting as a general contractor. The alternatives are homes built-for-sale (on the builder’s land, often in subdivisions, with the intention of selling the house and land in one transaction) and homes built-for-rent. In 2024, 73.1% of the single-family homes started were built-for-sale and 9.3% were built-for-rent. At a 17.5% share, the number of custom homes started in 2024 was 176,932, falling from 177,850 in 2023.
In 2024, vinyl siding was the most used principal exterior wall material for homes started. It holds just over a quarter share of homes, slightly surpassing stucco for the first time since 2018. …Vinyl was followed closely by stucco at 25%, and by fiber cement siding (such as Hardiplank or Hardiboard) at 23%. Each of these materials holds about a quarter of the market, with another 16% held by brick or brick veneer. Far smaller shares of single-family homes had wood or wood products (6%), stone, rock or other stone materials (1%), other (1%), or cement blocks (.2%) as the principal exterior wall material. …The strongest trend has been the growing popularity in fiber cement siding. The share of exterior siding material for fiber cement siding has increased by 5.5 percentage points in the last ten years…. Also notable is the decline of brick siding, from almost a quarter of homes in 2012, to just 16% in 2024.){kind=logo}
In the third quarter of 2025, the NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 60, up one point compared to the previous quarter. With the reading of 60, the RMI remains solidly in positive territory above 50, but lower than it had been at any time from 2021 through 2024. Overall, remodelers remain optimistic about the market, although slightly less optimistic than they were at this time last year. The most significant headwinds they are facing include high material and labor costs, as well as economic and political uncertainty making some of their potential customers cautious about moving forward with remodeling projects. The small quarter-over-quarter improvement is consistent with flat construction spending trends and the current wait-and-see demand environment.
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae published the results of its September 2025 
While sustainable solutions are facing drastic funding cuts, mass timber as a sustainable construction material is steadily gaining traction across the US. Construction using mass timber began in 2015 in the US, and since then the number of projects has grown about 20% annually. Today, over 2,500 mass timber projects are built or in progress in the US, including corporate offices for companies such as Google, Microsoft and Under Armour. …“We have lots of tech firms and big companies that say, ‘Hey, we’re battling it out for workers. We want the best space possible,’” said Bill Parsons, COO at WoodWorks. …Legislation that promotes and programs that fund mass timber, such as the Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act and the Wood Innovations Grant Program from the USDA, are still progressing. …Studies have shown that living or working in a mass timber building improves occupants’ mental health and well-being, even lowering their blood pressure and heart rates.
US civil society groups are urging the European Commission to resist Washington’s pressure to delay the EU’s deforestation regulation (EUDR) or tweak the rules to grant the country preferential treatment, according to a letter seen by Euractiv. The missive, sent this morning to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Commissioners responsible for green rules, the economy and trade, warns against any backtracking. “We are particularly concerned by the Commission’s apparent willingness to offer the U.S. special treatment under the EUDR as part of ongoing EU-U.S. trade negotiations,” the letter reads. The organisations refer to the joint statement issued by Brussels and Washington in September, which labels the US as posing “negligible risk to global deforestation.” Rick Jacobsen, senior manager for commodities policy at the US NGO Environmental Investigation Agency, told Euractiv that US interests have “ramped up the pressure campaign” to weaken the law before it even comes into force.
ATLANTA — Forest Stewardship Council US announced the approval of the revised 
Given market sentiment and operating rates, in addition to recent mill closures and curtailments, how has demand for wood fiber changed recently and over the past 10 years? …Total capacity of the wood-using U.S. pulp and paper sector declined 18% in the past 10 years. This decline is specific to wood-using mills, excluding facilities that rely exclusively on recycled fiber, but the sector reported drops in all end uses, with reductions in printing and writing capacity falling 49%. This represented over half of the lost capacity nationwide. Newsprint, household/sanitary, and market pulp segments also had notable declines, each representing 10%-16% of the lost capacity. Regionally, capacity reductions in the U.S. South accounted for most of the volume lost (64%), with the U.S. West and North each representing 18%. The West experienced the largest and most severe drop in capacity for a given region, with pulp and paper mill closures and reductions decreasing capacity by 26%.
FREMONT, Nebraska — Confined and concentrated combustible dust can ignite and generate secondary dust explosions “powerful enough to destroy buildings,” the Chemical Safety Board warns. CSB issued the warning as part of its