TARIFFS ON NORTH AMERICAN LUMBER, LOGS TAKE EFFECT from OCTOBER 2018 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE

The Chinese government announced recently they would proceed with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products in response to the Trump Administration’s imposition of 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, including a variety

of Hardwood and Hardwood products.

Retaliatory tariffs will be imposed on $60 billion worth of U.S. exports at either a 5 percent or a 10 percent rate, which started Monday, September 24, 2018. The Hardwood Federation received a list translated from Chinese of the logs and lumber to be affected and has been confirmed by U.S. Hardwood sources on the ground in China. 

Here are the wood species on that list, including both Hardwood and softwood:

Lumber –

• Red and White Oak, 10 percent

• Hard Maple, 5 percent

• Cherry, 10 percent

• White Ash, 10 percent

• Yellow Poplar, Black Walnut and

Hickory, 5 percent

Logs –

• Red and White Oak, 10 percent

• White Ash, Yellow Poplar, Black

Walnut,Hickory,Basswood,Cherry,

Hard Maple, Red Elm,other North

American Maple,10 percent

• Yellow Cedar (15cm and up),

5 percent

• Yellow Cedar (15cm and under),

10 percent

The Hardwood Federation reported that the Chinese government’s announcement did not clearly indicate if the Chinese tariffs will increase on January 1, 2019 to match U.S. planned rate increases from 10 percent to 25 percent. However,

separate statements indicate that “if the United States insists on further increasing its tariff rate, the Chinese side will respond accordingly, with related matters released separately.” Learn more at www.hardwoodfederation.

com.

(Editor’s note: At presstime, the wood species list in this article was the most recent

translated list from China to be received by the Hardwood Federation.)