WASHINGTON – As of April 8, the U.S. has suspended normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, immediately raising tariffs on Russian birch plywood to 50% in many cases.
“As the U.S. imported 567 million square feet of hardwood plywood from Russia last year, this large amount of plywood will be hard to replace,” said Keith A. Christman, president of the Decorative Hardwoods Assn.
“Going further, Republicans in Congress proposed banning imports of Russian timber and sustainably increasing the domestic harvest,” said Christman. “Unfortunately, it appears that unfounded concerns about harvesting wood may prevent this legislation from moving forward and filling the Russian supply gap.”
Russia supplies around 10% of the hardwood plywood America uses, with the far majority (97%) being birch plywood products, according to wood resource blog TimberCheck. That number is misleading, says TimberCheck, as the other leading hardwood plywood suppliers – Vietnam and Indonesia – ship large amounts of Russian birch themselves.
In late March, the House of Representatives voted 424-8 on legislation to raise tariffs from Russia and Belarus. That quickly moved to the Senate, which signed off early April at a 100-0 vote. The suspension makes it easier for President Biden to impose tariffs and sanctions on Russia.
In order to restore normalcy, the White House said at the time that it would need to certify that Russia and Belarus end the invasion and occupation of Ukraine and also pose no threat to NATO.
Robert Dalheim, senior editor of case goods and global sourcing, has been writing about the woodworking industry and business news since 2015. He is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with degrees in journalism and political science. Contact Bobby at rdalheim@furnituretoday.com or by calling (336) 605-3815.
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