The Hardwood Federation produces a “D.C. Cheat Sheet” newsletter to keep the industry up-to-date on the latest news from Washington D.C. Check out the May 28th edition below and sign up to receive your copy.
U.S and China Establish Board of Trade: A key outcome of the recent summit between President Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is the establishment of a Board of Trade, a bi-nation group that work to address long-standing economic policy differences between the two countries. In particular, the Trump Administration has cited reducing tariffs on at least $30 billion on “non-sensitive” goods traded between the two countries. Although details about the Board are limited, indications from the Administration are that the goods in question are primarily agricultural in nature.
Prior to the Summit, the Hardwood Federation Board of Directors sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Ambassador (USTR) reminding them that China agreed to hardwood lumber purchase targets as part of the Phase One Trade Agreement in 2019, targets that were interrupted due to COVID and other issues. The Federation Board encouraged USTR to re-engage China on purchase agreements of hardwood lumber as part of Summit negotiations. With the announcement of the Board of Trade, the Federation will continue to push the administration to add lumber to discussions both privately and through the public comment period that we anticipate will begin shortly.
The Hardwood Federation is also working on bi-partisan letters from both the House and Senate encouraging the administration to include lumber in upcoming discussions with China, both at the Board of Trade level and at the second Summit scheduled for September.
Administration engagement with China around lumber purchase agreements will be a key issue of discussion for the upcoming Fly-In, along with economic relief for the industry, the Farm Bill, Transportation, and the EUDR.
Source: Hardwood Federation