On Thursday, Minister Joly announced the fast tracking of Prime Minister Carney’s recent $1.2 billion dollar subsidy package for Canada’s lumber industry aimed at neutralizing U.S. antidumping and countervailing lumber duties. “Targeted industry support like this is exactly the type of unfair subsidy that our longstanding trade laws are designed to address,” said Zoltan van Heyningen. …“I am sure that President Trump and his Administration are watching Canada’s unrelenting announcements of new multibillion-dollar subsidies for Canada’s already heavily subsidized lumber industry. We hope that President Trump will adjust upward his Section 232 lumber tariff measures in response to each new massive subsidy announcement by the Canadian government,” continued van Heyningen. …”The rhetoric from Canadian industry and provincial officials claiming that their ‘wood’ is better and invoking ‘Russia,’ it is all sounding very desperate and much more like a guilty plea,” concluded van Heyningen.
BURNABY, BC — Interfor announced today revised operating plans for the fourth quarter of 2025. Due to persistently weak market conditions and ongoing economic uncertainty, Interfor will further temporarily reduce lumber production across its operations in British Columbia, Ontario, the US Pacific Northwest and the US South. These curtailments are expected to reduce lumber production in the fourth quarter of 2025 by approximately 250 million board feet, or 26%, as compared to the second quarter of 2025, which reflected a more normal operating stance. The curtailment volumes are approximately evenly split between Interfor’s Canadian and U.S. operations. …These curtailments are an amendment to Interfor’s previously announced curtailments on September 4, 2025. “Lumber prices in all regions of North America have continued to weaken, from already unsustainably low levels,” said Ian Fillinger, Interfor’s CEO. …While necessary, we fully recognize the impact these actions will have on our employees, contractors, suppliers and communities.”
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 
The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) is extremely frustrated and deeply concerned by the U.S. government’s decision to impose Section 232 tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber and derivative products. These unjustified measures, which take effect today, threaten the livelihoods of more than 200,000 Canadians and the stability of hundreds of towns and cities that rely on a strong forest sector. “For eight years, forest workers and communities across Canada have borne the brunt of increasing duties—now exceeding 45 percent with the addition of these new tariffs,” said Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of FPAC. “These are punitive, protectionist measures with no basis in fact. They ignore decades of evidence that Canadian lumber strengthens, rather than threatens, U.S. national security and economic resilience.” Targeting responsibly managed, sustainably sourced Canadian wood products under the pretense of national security is both unjustified and deeply damaging. These actions undermine one of the most integrated, mutually beneficial trade relationships in the world, increasing costs for American families and homebuilders while jeopardising Canadian mills and workers.
British Columbia’s forest sector is at a crossroads — facing tough challenges, but also leading the way in solutions that matter most to our province: housing, wildfire resilience, reconciliation, and sustainable economic growth. At the 2026 COFI Convention, leaders from across industry, government, and Indigenous and community partners will come together to rebuild competitiveness and chart the future of a strong, sustainable forest sector. Join us in Vancouver for the largest forest sector gathering in Western Canada. April 8 – 10, 2026 at the JW Marriot Parq Vancouver
Linda Bell says there has been turmoil and chaos along parts of the US and New Brunswick border as trucks carrying lumber navigate the new tariffs that came into effect on Tuesday. But Bell says there’s been confusion as to what’s included under the new tariffs. In her almost three decades working as the general manager of the Carleton Victoria Wood Producers Association in Florenceville, she says it’s the first time there appears to be a duty on roundwood. “Trucks that were headed over there have been turned back and had to be unloaded. Some have been allowed to cross. We really don’t know what is going on,” she said. She said a few large mills in Maine who’ve been buying New Brunswick wood for five decades have halted all deliveries until the confusion can be cleared up. …Minister Mélanie Joly said there are different interpretations happening at various border locations.
NEW YORK — Cabinet dealers, interior designers and remodeling contractors in the U.S. hope new tariffs on imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and upholstered wooden furniture will boost domestic production of those products. But several small business owners in the home improvement industry say they expect some short-term pains from the import taxes. Potential customers may postpone kitchen and bathroom renovations until costs — and the economy — seem more stable. …The American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance lobbied for tariffs to help offset what they described as a flood of cheap cabinets from countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, China and elsewhere in the decades since manufacturing moved offshore. …Although the White House said the tariffs were intended to boost domestic production and protect U.S. businesses from predatory trade practices, some cabinet makers say that will be difficult because their supply chains are multinational.
President Trump’s new tariffs on imported lumber and wooden fixtures have taken effect, potentially raising the cost of home construction and renovations. …“These new tariffs will create additional headwinds for an already challenged housing market by further raising construction and renovation costs,” says NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes. …According to an NAHB analysis, U.S. sawmills are operating at just 64% of their potential capacity, a figure that has dropped steadily since 2017. “It will take years until domestic lumber production ramps up to meet the needs of our citizens,” the trade group says”. …Framing costs, including the roof, averaged about $49,763 for new single-family homes last year, accounting for about 12% of the total cost of a new build, according to an NAHB breakdown. Cabinets and countertops cost $19,056 on average, accounting for 4.5% of the total, the analysis found. …Builder profit margins have already been shrinking, and many companies have pulled back on new construction.
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.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality permit board on Wednesday reversed a decision from earlier this year and granted wood pellet manufacturer Drax a permit that allows it to release more emissions from a facility in Gloster. The board held a two-day evidentiary hearing after denying the company the permit in April. The permit falls under Title V of the Clean Air Act and allows Drax’s facility Amite BioEnergy, to become a “major source” of Hazardous Air Pollutants, or HAPs. The board voted unanimously in favor of granting the permit said Kim Turner. Evidence from the hearing “sufficiently addressed” concerns the board previously had. MDEQ has found the facility in violation multiple times since Drax opened the Amite County plant in 2016. …Drax applied for the permit in order to better reflect its production capacity. Since violating the current permit, Amite BioEnergy has had to decrease its pellet output.
From October 14, wooden furniture exported to the United States will continue to be subject to a new import tariff of up to 25 percent. This has come as a “shock” at a time when enterprises are accelerating production, raising concerns over the feasibility of maintaining Vietnam’s 2025 wood export targets. In the long term, aside from adapting to frequently changing tariff policies, enterprises in the wood industry are working to improve product quality. Expanding markets and building the Vietnamese wood brand are considered key solutions for the sector’s sustainable development. On September 29, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a decree imposing a 25 percent tariff on wooden furniture, effective from October 14. The tariff rate may increase to 50 percent for dressing tables and kitchen cabinets, and 30 percent for upholstered products early next year. This move is regarded as a “shock” to Vietnam’s wood industry.