Trump orders national security impact probe on lumber import
Trump orders national security impact probe on lumber imports
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to launch an investigation into the impact of lumber and timber imports on America's national security
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has
signed an executive order to launch an investigation into the impact of lumber
and timber imports on America's national security, a move that could lead to a
new tariff imposition.
Trump directed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to initiate
the probe, saying the United States faces "significant"
vulnerabilities in the wood supply chain from imported timber, lumber and their
derivative products being dumped onto the U.S. market.
A White House official mentioned South Korea and China as he
stressed the probe will also target derivative products, including kitchen
cabinets. It is to proceed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962
that allows the president to impose import restrictions if an import threatens
to hurt national security, reports Yonhap news agency.
On the same day, Trump also inked an executive order
designed to increase domestic timber production and help reduce construction
and housing costs in the U.S. Timber refers to unprocessed trees or tree parts,
while lumber refers to processed wood.
"Our disastrous timber and lumber policies, the legacy
of the previous administration, trigger wildfires and degrade our fish and
wildlife habitats," the official told reporters in a telephonic press
briefing.
"They drive up construction and housing costs, and
impoverish America through large trade deficits that result from exporters like
Canada, Germany and Brazil dumping lumber into our markets at the expense of
both our economic prosperity and national security."
The official underscored that the administration is also
zeroing in on ramifications from derivative products.
"We have situations, for example, where we're exporting
our logs, and they're coming back from China in particular, and South Korea
does this too... very heavily subsidised things like kitchen cabinets and the
like," he said.
Asked why lumber imports pose a threat to national security,
the official said that the Pentagon is a major consumer of lumber and
derivative products.
"The whole issue of having a reliable source is
critical. If you look at kind of the military needs, we are not building,
obviously, aircraft with it, but we are certainly building all the ancillary
structures that the military needs," he said.
"And it's simply a danger to this country to get
increasingly dependent on a foreign supply chain or a product that we could be
almost self-sufficient in."
Last month, Trump said he was weighing a 25 per cent tariff
on lumber and wood products.
According to the Korea International Trade Association,
South Korea's furniture exports to the U.S. were tallied at $30 million last
year. Some observers say U.S. tariffs on timber imports, if imposed, might have
a limited impact on Asia's fourth-largest economy.
The latest action came after Trump signed an executive order
on Tuesday to investigate how copper imports threaten America's national
security and economic stability, in a move that could lead to the imposition of
new tariffs on the metal used to produce aircraft, vehicles, ships and other
military hardware.
