Proclamation 10976 imposes Section 232 tariffs on lumber, cabinets, furniture

On 29 September 2025 President Donald J. Trump signed Proclamation 10976, “Adjusting Imports of Timber, Lumber, and Their Derivative Products Into the United States,” published in the Federal Register on 6 October 2025.¹ The proclamation imposes a 10 per cent Section 232 tariff on softwood timber and lumber; 25 per cent on upholstered wooden products (rising to 30 per cent on 1 January 2026); and 25 per cent on kitchen cabinets and vanities (rising to 50 per cent on 1 January 2026), with duties applying to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. EDT on 14 October 2025.¹ The Section 232 investigation was initiated by presidential memorandum on 10 March 2025; the Bureau of Industry and Security published the investigation notice on 13 March 2025 (90 Fed. Reg. 11765); the Secretary of Commerce transmitted the affirmative report to the President on 1 July 2025.² The proclamation invokes § 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. § 1862(b)-(c)), § 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2483), and 3 U.S.C. § 301.³⁴ The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB, a trade association whose members include builders and contractors with a direct interest in lumber and cabinet input costs), in a 29 September 2025 statement, said the duties would raise the price of an average new home by between $9,200 and $10,900 and urged a new softwood-lumber agreement with Canada.⁵ The proclamation was issued as one element of a late-September 2025 Section 232 package that also included pharmaceuticals (branded/patented at 100 per cent) and heavy trucks (25 per cent).⁶

1. Section 232 investigations follow the framework at 19 U.S.C. § 1862(b) (270-day Commerce investigation) and § 1862(c) (90-day Presidential action on an affirmative finding), with BIS procedural rules at 15 C.F.R. Part 705.⁷⁸ CBP collects under HTSUS Chapter 99 subchapter III subheadings 9903.76.01 (softwood timber and lumber), 9903.76.02 (upholstered wooden products), and 9903.76.03 (kitchen cabinets and vanities), per CBP CSMS #66492057 of 10 October 2025.⁹¹⁰

2. The Section 232 lumber/furniture duties fall outside the five tariff actions covered by EO 14289’s anti-stacking precedence (Section 232 auto/parts, EO 14193, EO 14194, Section 232 steel and Section 232 aluminum); they cumulate with any other applicable Section 232, IEEPA reciprocal, § 301 China or MFN duties on covered imports.¹¹ USMCA-originating goods receive the treatment specified in the proclamation; goods from EU, Japan and UK partners receive the treatment specified by their respective framework agreements.¹²

3. The US imports significant volumes of softwood lumber from Canada and of kitchen cabinets and upholstered furniture from China, Vietnam and Mexico; cost incidence flows to homebuilders, remodellers and end consumers through importer pass-through and substitution toward domestic supply at constrained capacity in the affected sectors.¹³⁵