In what’s being called a blow to Canada, U.S. President Donald Trump has placed a new 10% tariff on timber and lumber that’s imported into America.
Trump also announced a new 25% import duty on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and upholstered furniture, continuing his tariff barrage on global trade.
The new tariffs reportedly go into effect on Oct. 14.
The latest U.S. trade action places more tariffs on Canada, the biggest softwood lumber supplier to America.
Lumber producers already face combined U.S. anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs of about 35% due to a long-running dispute over timber harvested from Canadian public lands.
Federal government officials in Ottawa hope to negotiate U.S. tariff reductions through revisions to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement on trade.
In the meantime, Ottawa has said it will provide up to $1.2 billion in financial assistance to Canadian softwood lumber producers to cope with new American duties.
Trump’s latest “presidential proclamation” offered some countries that have recently struck trade deals with the U.S. relief from the higher import duties on wood.
The proclamation said that U.S. tariffs on wood products from Britain will be capped at 10% and those from the European Union (EU) and Japan will be capped at 15%.
The new U.S. import duties are a blow to Canadian lumber producers such as West Fraser Timber (WFG), Canfor (CFP), and Western Forest Products (WEF).
