New tariffs were announced on imported wood and lumber products, with related import taxes set to go into effect on October 14, 2025.
The new taxes will apply to softwood timber and lumber products, as well as upholstered wooden furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities.
The tariff rate has been set to 10% on lumber, and 25% on imported kitchen cabinets, vanities, and upholstered wooden furniture.
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Wood products imported from Japan and the European Union will be taxed at 15%, and the tax on wood imports from the UK “will not exceed 10%.”
Starting on January 1, 2026, the tariffs on upholstered furniture will be increasing from 25% to 30%, and on kitchen cabinets and vanities from 25% to 50%.
From what I’ve read, the 10% global tariff rate on softwood lumber will be tacked on top of new tariffs imposed on wood from Canada, which recently increased to 35%, bringing the total rate to around 45%.
Organizations such as the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) have cautioned that domestic production will not be able to meet consumption demand for several years.
They also said that the US imports around a third of its softwood lumber, and that nearly 85% of this comes from Canada. This implies that roughly 28% of the softwood lumber consumed by various US industries – including homebuilding and possibly furniture – will be hit by the 45% import tax.
Home Depot and Lowe’s, which carry imported lumber as well as wood and wood product kitchen cabinets and vanities, have not yet issued statements about the matter.
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NOTE: Please keep the comments section civil. We can talk about policies, but please avoid politics.
Casey
Hopefully increased local demand for wood will decrease the amount of wood we ship overseas in the form of wood pellets. We ship over 10 million metric tons of wood pellets to Europe every year to be burned as fuel because burning wood is considered “renewable” and serves as a loophole to get around European clean energy mandates. And we are clear cutting forests with trees that are perfectly useable for lumber. I can’t get a clear answer as to how much wood we import from Canada compared to the amount we export to Europe because every source measures the two differently, but I imagine it would help our local supply significantly if we did not export wood. Perhaps Canada could export their excess lumber to Europe now compared to selling it to the US.
potato
Just from the name wood pellets I would have assumed this is off cuts or waste not necessarily prime lumber turned into pellets but I really don’t know anything about the industry, so you’re saying it is in fact prime lumber that is being used for this and also it’s more profitable to create wood pellets than to use them for building materials?
Stuart
From what I’ve read, wood pellets are made from low-grade wood fiber and forestry residues.
Canadian lumber is delivered to the USA via truck or rail. I don’t think “maybe they can export excess lumber to Europe” is realistic.
Jay bar blaze
Dang I feel like wood is quite expensive and hasn’t really come down too much after the COVID hit. I was looking to make a Jay bates miter saw station but 12 sheets of 3/4 purebond is like $80+ where I’m at