Good and Bad News on Lumber Production and Tariffs

Recent developments on the lumber front indicate that increased logging from federal lands and higher tariffs are in the offing later this year.

Opportunities for Increased Domestic Lumber Production

In a move that NAHB has encouraged, President Trump signed an executive order that calls for a 25% increase in timber production from federal lands. NAHB has taken a leading role in urging the administration and Congress to increase the domestic supply of timber from federally owned lands in an environmentally responsible manner.

Acting on the president’s directive, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a memo directing the U.S. Forest Service to:

• Increase timber outputs,
• Simplify permitting,
• Remove National Environmental Policy Act processes,
• Reduce implementation and contracting burdens, and
• Work directly with states, local government, and forest product producers to ensure that the Forest Service delivers a reliable and consistent supply of timber.

The U.S. does not currently produce enough lumber to meet domestic demand (the U.S. uses 50 billion board feet annually but only produces 35 billion board feet). This new development will help the nation move in the direction... read more of this article on nahb.org