NEWS

U.S. imports of hardwood plywood are down by 34% year to date through June. The volume of imports from Vietnam and Indonesia has fallen by more than 60%, likely as a result of the successful antidumping and countervailing duty challenges brought by the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood. However, the spike in imports from Malaysia and Cambodia, up by 212% and 654%, respectively, suggests that transshipment may already be happening.

DHA joined more than 1,000 U.S. forestry and forest products associations and companies in a letter to President Trump. The letter encourages the Trump administration to continue to push European Union leaders to recognize that the U.S. forest and wood products supply chain poses a low risk to global deforestation and to remove all unnecessary and burdensome regulations in the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) for U.S. exporters.

The Trump administration announced that it intends to completely rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, known as the Roadless Rule, which bans building roads on more than 44 million acres of federal forest land. As written, the Roadless Rule is overly restrictive, limits state and local land management, makes fighting forest fires more difficult, and unnecessarily prevents responsible federal timber harvesting.

PHOTO © PRESTON KERES, USFS

Polls show that most Canadians, angered by Trump's tariffs on imports from Canada and his frequent comments about making Canada the 51st state, support taking a tough stance in trade negotiations. Prime Minister Carney enjoys high approval ratings, and a recent survey showed that more than 75% of Canadians surveyed said he was right to walk away from trade negotiations with the U.S.

PHOTO © EMILY J HIGGINS

On August 25, Canada retaliated to U.S. 50% tariffs on many Canadian imports with matching 50% tariffs on U.S. imports. This affects our sector, as it appears that Canada also applied 50% tariffs on imports of U.S. hardwood plywood, beginning September 8. There are no new tariffs on imports of hardwood veneer.

PHOTO © DANIEL TOROK