Up to $1 billion of forest products could be subject to tariffs in the coming 30 days after the European Union hit the United States with “strong and proportionate” tariffs on a range of products. Wood Central understands that the new countermeasures—which will take place in two stages—will hit more than $26 billion in Euro-American trade, including lumber, plywood, veneer, flooring, chipboard, fibreboard, pulp, and paper.
In announcing the new measures hours after Trump introduced a global tariff on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would reinstate tariffs from 2018 and 2020 (hitting more than $8 billion in trade) from April 1st, with the balance of tariffs to come into effect in mid-April.
“(US Tariffs) are bad for business and worse for consumers,” von der Leyen said, warning that a trade war will disrupt supply chains and raise prices across the Atlantic. “These measures are strong but proportionate,” she said, with EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic now charged with the responsibility of resolving the dispute.
As it stands, the EU is the United States fourth most important market for exports – behind only Canada ($2.23 billion), the United Kingdom ($1.61 billion) and Canada ($1.62 billion). In recent years it has expanded market access for lumber, securing in 2023, a derogation to ramp up exports of high-value oak logs to the EU for three years.
The tariffs come days after Wood Central revealed that China—the United States’ largest trading partner for lumber—had suspended all logs arriving at Chinese ports over fears of bark beetle contamination. At the time, China’s General Administration of Customs said the decision, effective March 4, was made to prevent the spread of harmful organisms and protect China’s forestry and agricultural industries as per the Biosecurity Law of China, the Entry-Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine Law, and international phytosanitary measures.
- To learn more about Trump’s plans to hit global lumber with tariffs from April 2, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
