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On April 8, the U.S. suspended normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, immediately raising tariffs on Russian birch plywood to 50% in many cases. This and other restrictions are well deserved, but as the U.S. imported 567 million square feet of hardwood plywood from Russia last year, this large amount of plywood will be hard to replace particularly for the engineered wood flooring industry.

Illegal logging threatens the world's forests and unfairly harms our DHA members who produce sustainably. That's why DHA joined others to advocate for vigorous enforcement of the Lacey Act to reduce illegal timber. DHA's approach to illegal timber includes our American National Standard for Due Diligence in Procuring/Sourcing Legal Timber, ANS LTDD 1.0 2015.

Russia's tragic war in Ukraine and its impact on the hardwood products industry and trade dominate this week's headlines. As previously reported, Russia was the third-largest source of U.S. hardwood plywood imports in 2021, exceeding 567 million square feet worth more than $334 million. In addition, more than 653 million square feet of birch plywood was imported from Vietnam last year—much of it using birch from Russia. Long‑lasting trade impacts could result from legislation passed last week in the U.S.

In addition to the tragic humanitarian impact, the Russian invasion of Ukraine will impact the decorative hardwoods industry. In 2021, Russia was the third-largest source of U.S. hardwood plywood imports, with a total volume of more than 567 million square feet worth more than $334 million. Elimination of these imports could create opportunities for competing manufacturers. For those who import Russian birch cores for further processing, it is likely to create sourcing challenges. PEFC and FSC have labeled wood from Russia and Belarus as "…

Last week, our association commended Congress for moving forward with legislation to address China's abusive trade practices and asked Congress to include important new measures to improve trade enforcement in the final legislation.