Trump orders investigations of wood

On March 1, 2025, President Trump signed an executive regulation that cited the Minister of Commerce (Secretary) to initiate an investigation in accordance with Section 232 of the 1962 (Section 232) trade expansion law in order to determine whether the imports of wood, wood and its derivative products impair the national security of the United States. A positive determination in this investigation could lead to additional tasks or other measures that affect the imports of wood products. This is his second such executive regulation in this term; Last week President Trump instructed the trade to examine copper imports as part of the same legal instrument.

The executive order determines the value of wood products as an important input for the civilian construction industry and the military, as the spending of the US military for construction and investing in innovative building material technology. In the order, the President also found that the United States was a net importer of wood, although the US soft wood wood industry has the practical capacity to deliver 95% of US consumption in 2024.

In order to investigate the effects of wood -making reports on national security, the secretary will evaluate the factors specified in the USAC § 1862 (D), such as: In addition to these legal factors, the Executive Ordinance further indicates the secretary to evaluate the following six (6) factors:

1. The current and forecast demand for wood and wood in the United States;
2. The extent to which the domestic production of wood and cutting wood can satisfy domestic demand;
3. The role of foreign offer chains, in particular the great exporters, in combating wood and wood demand from the United States;
4. The effects of subsidies for foreign government and predatory trade practices on the wood, wood and derivative product industries in the USA in the USA;
5. The feasibility to increase domestic wood and wood capacity to reduce imports; And
6. The effects of current trade policy on the production of wood, wood and derivative products and the question of whether additional measures, including tariffs or odds are necessary, to protect national security.

This direction in which the trade examines the wood in accordance with Section 232 and the instruction of last week that trading examines the imports of copper, underlines, continues to underline that section 232 is a preferred mechanism for import adjustment for Trump management. These two studies are the ninth and tenth examinations that are to be initiated or ordered to be initiated under the Trump administration. In connection with the Biden administration, only one examination in accordance with § 232 has initiated; No investigations were initiated between 2002 and 2016.

As a rule, the US Ministry of Trade invites interested parties to submit written comments or information relevant to the products that are subject to Section 232.