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 September 17th edition below and sign up to receive your copy.
Hardwood Industry Testifies Before House Ag Committee: The U.S. hardwood industry was well represented during a House Agriculture Committee meeting addressing the topic of “Increasing Demand and Opportunities for Homegrown Products Here and Abroad.” Tyler Shields, COO of Bingaman and Sons in Kraemer, Pennsylvania, was invited by Chairman GT Thompson, (R-PA) to join representatives from the farming and fresh produce sectors. We appreciate Tyler encouraging committee members to support the Hardwood Federation’s work to secure economic relief for hardwood producers during his prepared comments.
Farm Bill Passed Out of Senate Ag Committee: On Wednesday, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee voted to move the Agricultural Act of 2026 to the Senate floor. The vote was along party lines-12-11. Senator Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) return to Washington proved to be the difference.
As we have noted, there are many Hardwood Federation-supported provisions in this bill. Among them are:
- Reauthorization of both the Wood Innovation and Community Wood Grant programs
- Forestry and forest products workforce development language modeled after the Jobs in the Woods Act
- Reauthorization of the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels program, which provides direct payments to wood pellet producers
- Binding biomass carbon neutrality language
- Reauthorization and modernization of the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program
The bill will not likely see action before the November mid-term elections. Democrats remain opposed to the measure around the SNAP cost share issue which poses challenges for floor consideration. The Hardwood Federation team will continue to press ahead in hopes that the measure can clear the upper chamber later in the fourth quarter.
Additional Tariff Powers for President Approved: Yesterday, the full House approved H.R. 5334, the Lindsay O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, by a 262-159 vote. While there is broad support for most of the provisions in this bill, the sections around new tariff authorities had attracted widespread opposition from the business community. Under the legislation, the president would be authorized to increase the tariff rate up to 500 percent on goods from Russia and countries “that knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products.” Industry concerns centered on the vagueness of criteria for the new tariff authorities and that they may be used to impose levies on some of our key trading partners. The bill now heads to the president’s desk.
Source: Hardwood Federation