Section 232 Tariffs Take Effect Oct. 14 on Timber, Lumber, Upholstered Furniture and Cabinets and Vanities
Section 232 tariffs on timber, lumber and their derivatives will take effect Oct. 14, under a proclamation issued by President Donald Trump. Tariffs will be set at 10% for timber and lumber, 25% for upholstered furniture and 25% on wooden cabinets and vanities.
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On Jan. 1, the tariffs on upholstered furniture will increase to 30%, and on wooden cabinets and vanities to 50%, “except for countries with which the United States reaches an agreement that addresses the threatened impairment of the national security posed by imports of wood products.”
Tariff subheadings subject to the new tariffs are outlined in an annex to the proclamation.
The tariffs on the EU and Japan will be capped at 15%, including the most-favored nation rate, while goods from the U.K. will be subject to a rate that "shall not exceed" 10% on top of MFN.
Goods subject to these Section 232 tariffs on “timber, lumber and their derivative products” won’t be subject to reciprocal tariffs, the additional 40% International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs imposed on Brazil and additional 25% IEEPA tariffs imposed on India for its imports of Russian oil.
Goods subject to both these tariffs and the Section 232 tariffs on autos and auto parts will only be subject to the tariffs on autos and auto parts. Goods subject to both these tariffs and the IEEPA tariffs on Canada and Mexico will only be subject to these Section 232 timber and lumber tariffs.
However, the proclamation also removes over 150 tariff subheadings in Chapter 44 from the “Annex II” list of goods exempt from reciprocal tariffs, effective Oct. 14.
Drawback will be available, but any goods subject to these tariffs entered into a foreign-trade zone on or after Oct. 14 must be entered under privileged foreign status.
Like with Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, the proclamation directs the Commerce Department to create an inclusion process to add goods to the tariffs.
It also includes a provision that, if Commerce finds “that there is a risk of undervaluation of any particular class of imports of wood products subject to tariffs imposed pursuant to this proclamation, the Secretary is authorized to impose specific, compound, or mixed tariffs at a rate that he determines to correspond approximately to the ad valorem duty rate otherwise in effect under section 232 for the same class of articles.”