NEWS

In the last week of February, the Bureau of Land Management sold 27.6 million board feet of timber across 1,255 public acres in Oregon for more than $8.3 million, exceeding the appraised value by more than $3 million. This is a positive indicator of the strong demand for U.S. lumber manufacturing. The timber sold will support local mills and jobs in local communities.

PHOTO © CECILIO RICARDO, USFS

The U.S. Court of International Trade has ordered refunds for companies that paid the IEEPA tariffs that were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The judge said all importers who paid IEEPA duties are "entitled to the benefit" of the Supreme Court's decision. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said a system for tariff refunds will be operational within 45 days of the Supreme Court decision.

PHOTO © AMERICASROOF

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed technical changes to its formaldehyde emission standards program for composite wood products. Changes include updating the referenced editions of standards used for product specifications and formaldehyde testing and incorporating ISO 12460-2:2024(en) as an additional small-scale chamber method for quality-control testing. The comment period ends March 13.

PHOTO © Capital Testing

The newly introduced Housing Tariff Exclusion Act would automatically exempt many homebuilding materials, including engineered wood products, from current and future tariffs, and allow importers to apply for tariff exemptions on homebuilding materials that aren't exempt. The bill does not apply to antidumping or countervailing duties. The legislation is unlikely to pass, but it is symptomatic of the growing pressure on affordability.

The European Commission is reviewing the EU Deforestation Regulation and will recommend changes by April 30. The American Hardwood Export Council continues to advocate for practical changes, such as removing the phrase "within a single real estate property" from the definition of "plot of land" to allow county-level compliance. Last year, AHEC built the American Hardwood Assured Platform to provide all due diligence data required by the EUDR.