DIY 1 source Jul 9, 1:29 PM EDT Updated 2h ago 0 views

Lawmakers urge USTR to include hardwoods in U.S.-China trade framework

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Lawmakers urge USTR to include hardwoods in U.S.-China trade framework By Larry Adams July 9, 2026 | 12:29 pm CDT googletag.cmd.push(function() { // Start by defining breakpoints for this ad. var mapping = googletag.sizeMapping() .addSize([768, 0], [320, 50]) .addSize([480, 0],…

Lawmakers urge USTR to include hardwoods in U.S.-China trade framework By

Larry Adams

July 9, 2026 | 12:29 pm CDT

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Woodworking Industry News

Lawmakers urge USTR to include hardwoods in U.S.-China trade framework

Larry Adams

July 9, 2026 | 12:29 pm CDT

A letter from a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is urging the United States Trade Representative to include American hardwood lumber in the U.S.-China Board of Trade framework.

The U.S.-China Board of Trade is a government-to-government framework established during the May 2026 Beijing summit between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping that is designed to manage and optimize bilateral trade in non-sensitive goods by adjusting tariffs on a reciprocal basis.

According to Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH), the US hardwood industry has lost nearly $10 billion in foregone sales and experienced a 48% drop in domestic hardwood lumber production since the retaliatory tariffs on China began in 2018.  U.S. hardwood exporters historically sold about half of their international lumber to China, but the 25% retaliatory tariffs caused the U.S. to lose major market share to competitors in Russia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

This week Pappas joined U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Representatives GT Thompson (R-PA) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), along with a group of U.S. Senators and Representatives, in a new letter urging United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer to explicitly include American hardwood lumber within the recently established U.S.-China Board of Trade. Ensuring hardwood lumber is included in China’s procurement commitments under the new Board of Trade would protect this key industry and boost American manufacturing.

The members of Congress wrote, in part: “We write to urge the Administration to include American hardwood lumber in the framework for the newly formed U.S.-China Board of Trade and to ensure that any Chinese procurement commitments include American hardwood lumber, not logs, so that domestic lumber manufacturing is not undercut by China. The American hardwood lumber industry is vital to our states and the U.S. economy overall, supporting sawmills, loggers, and rural economies across the country. We believe that if the Board of Trade focuses on hardwood lumber, it can provide much-needed economic relief for domestic lumber manufacturers and support communities that depend on a competitive American hardwood industry.”

They continued: “The cumulative cost of lost market access is estimated at $9.882 billion in foregone sales. This loss in sales led to a massive decline in production; domestic hardwood lumber production has dropped 48.3 percent since 2018, capacity was down 6 percent between 2020 and 2022, and output in the first quarter of 2025 declined 19 percent from 2024.”

The lawmakers concluded: “Historically, China has accounted for roughly 25% of U.S. hardwood lumber production, and restoring this relationship is essential to communities in our states and across the county. We support the Administration’s interest supporting American manufacturing and request that USTR to take the following steps:

Explicitly include American hardwood lumber in the Board of Trade framework;

Include American hardwood lumber, not logs, in China’s $17 billion procurement commitment; and 

Include enforceable compliance mechanisms with measurable targets specific to hardwood lumber and regularly review hardwood lumber purchases at the Board of Trade to ensure actual purchases are made.”

A full copy of the letter can be found here.

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