New Zealand has won a last-minute tariff reprieve, meaning that NZ $358 million worth of radiata pine traded into the United States every year will not be subject to Donald Trump’s “liberation tariffs.” That is according to the Wood Processors Manufacturing Association (WPMA), NZ’s peak industry for forest products who, said the “short-lived” special exemption will now be subject to a 90-day National Security probe (s 232), which started last month.
“Exports of radiata pine products from New Zealand to the United States were estimated at $358 million, making the United States our third largest export market for forest products behind China and Australia,” according to a statement from the WPMA yesterday. “Our timber and lumber products are highly valued in the United States for their quality and appearance within the domestic DIY and home building market.”
Wood Central understands that the exemption resulted from lobbying from the American Building Materials Alliance and the powerful National Association of Home Builders, which both wrote to Trump urging the administration to rethink placing a tariff on what is a critical part of the supply chain for affordable housing: “As a response, the administration recognised that raising costs on timber and lumber would hurt housing affordability, disrupt construction, and weaken an important supply chain.”
“An ongoing challenge facing home builders in the United States is the cost and availability of building materials such as lumber, with price increases of just over 30% over the last few months,” the WPMA said. “Further supply chain disruptions from tariffs coupled with increased demand for materials could hinder rebuilding efforts in areas affected by natural disasters, which Trump pledged to rebuild as quickly as possible.”
- To learn more about tariffs’ impact on housing costs, click here for the NAHB’s ‘Priced-Out Analysis’ published on Monday.
