By Wayne Nisley

Beginning Oct. 14, the United States imposed a 10 percent tariff on all imported softwood timber and lumber and a 25 percent tariff on imported wooden furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities. The move—part of a proclamation signed Sept. 29 by President Donald Trump—will raise the furniture tariff to 30 percent and cabinets to 50 percent by 2026. The White House said the action was taken under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, citing national security concerns over America’s reliance on foreign wood products.

Support From Domestic Producers

Many in the U.S. lumber and cabinetry sectors welcomed the change. Zoltan van Heyningen, executive director of the U.S. Lumber Coalition, said the decision shows the administration’s intent to support “domestic production over foreign production.” He called it a step toward addressing what he described as Canada’s unfair trade practices in softwood lumber.

The American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance also praised the tariffs, saying they would “save American cabinet manufacturers from a flood of unfairly traded imports.” The group claims foreign competitors, especially from Asia, have undercut U.S. producers by as much as 70 percent in recent years, resulting in billions in lost revenue and thousands of jobs.

Concerns From Furniture Makers

Furniture manufacturers, however, warn that higher tariffs will worsen existing struggles tied to slow housing demand and labor shortages. The Furniture for America association argued that tariffs will not restore the domestic furniture industry, noting that no amount of tariffs will bring U.S. furniture manufacturing back to prior levels given the current shortage of skilled workers and domestic materials.

Williams-Sonoma CEO Laura Alber echoed those concerns, saying the company has already been forced to raise prices and adjust supply chains. She warned it will be “very difficult for the industry to bring a huge amount back to the United States in a short window of time.”

Impact on Prices

The National Association of Home Builders cautioned that new tariffs could further raise construction and renovation costs, adding “headwinds to an already challenged housing market.” Van Heyningen disagreed, arguing that the tariffs target foreign exporters rather than U.S. consumers, and that lumber represents only about 2 percent of a new home’s cost. Still, some analysts predict prices will edge upward as companies eventually pass along higher costs.

Economist Wayne Winegarden of the Pacific Research Institute believes consumers will begin to feel those effects by 2025, calling it “a particularly bad time to be increasing the cost of construction.” For now, the policy divides an industry already navigating uncertainty—but one thing is clear: the long-running U.S.–Canada lumber feud is far from over.