Australia is one of the United States’ largest trading partners (21st, to be precise), but its timber supply chain is somewhat protected from Trump’s on-again and off-again reciprocal tariffs.
That is according to new data provided by the Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) Economics and Statistics Team, which revealed that Australia last year had a trade deficit of AU $84.2 million in wood and wood products with the world’s largest producer of forest products.
“Australia exported wood and wood products valued at AU $9 million (now subject to 10% baseline tariffs), while imports from the US were valued at AU $93.2 million (with) that balance of trade deficit the lowest in many years,” according to the FWPA analysis. “Imports from the USA accounted for 3.5% of total wood and wood products imports by value, (whilst) exports to the USA accounted for just 0.5% of total wood and wood products exports by value.”
According to IndustryEdge, Australia’s reliance on US wood and wood product imports has been steadily declining from a peak of about AU $160m in 2018, with the significant drop starting in 2023. The vast majority of Australian imports come from China ($1.115b—or 42% of total imports), Indonesia ($276.4m or 10.4% of imports), New Zealand ($260.9m or 9.8%), and Malaysia ($175.5m or 6.6%).
Chinese tariffs could sting global furniture supply chains
Last week, Wood Central reported that while all HTSUS 44 coded products are exempt from reciprocal tariffs (wood and wood-based products), the United States has hit China, the world’s largest producer of wooden furniture, with 145% tariffs on finished products.
This means that vast volumes of tropical timber from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America could be affected by tariffs imposed on finished furniture, cabinetry, doors, and other interior products, and could see trade redirected from the United States to other markets, including Europe, inside Asia and perhaps Australia.
According to Rudolf van Rensburg, a director at Margules Groome Consulting, the ramp-up will have a knock-on impact on the global supply chain for hardwood: “China imported 10.11 million cubic metres of non-coniferous (hardwood) lumber in 2024, at an average price of US $344 per cubic metre,” he said, referencing a Margules Groome’s publication, adding that the furniture and interior decoration sector is the primary consumer of these hardwood imports.
“China’s furniture industry depends on high-quality imported hardwoods, both tropical and temperate, for manufacturing furniture, flooring, cabinetry, and other interior wood products,” van Rensburg said, adding that US-sourced hardwoods (now suspended at port) are also valued for veneer and solid wood applications in high-end furniture. “This segment alone is estimated to account for 15% of China’s total wood use by volume.”
- To learn more about the impact of Donald Trump’s tariff plan on global timber prices, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
