Section 232 Tariffs on Wood Products Announced

UPDATE 10/14/2025: Please note that the tariffs on softwood timber and lumber, upholstered furniture, and kitchen cabinets and vanities have gone into effect as of today, Tuesday, October 14, 2025.

9/29/2025: Late on September 29, 2025, the Trump Administration issued a Presidential Proclamation imposing Section 232 tariffs on specified imports of softwood timber and lumber; upholstered furniture; and kitchen cabinets and vanities following the investigation launched in March 2025 into timber, lumber, and their derivative products. 

Most significant for the RV industry, the Proclamation does not apply Section 232 tariffs to plywood under HTS 4412 or to wooden furniture, except for kitchen cabinets, vanities, and upholstered seats. This exclusion includes plywood classified under 4412, such as lauan (4412.31.48 and 4412.31.45). 

Due to the opacity of the language, there is some discussion surrounding whether lauan will be subject to International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) reciprocal tariffs at 12:01 am ET on October 14, 2025. While we initially heard that lauan would be subject to the reciprocals on that date, other interpretations of the language give us reasons to believe it will not be subject to the reciprocal tariffs. We will update this piece with additional information when we receive guidance from Customs or a definitive statement one way or the other. In either case, RV Industry Association will be working to secure an exclusion for lauan in any final Indonesia trade deal.

Products and Rates

Products affected will see tariff rates apply beginning at 12:01 am ET on October 14, 2025. Affected products include:

• Imports of softwood timber and lumber as provided under Annex I shall be subject to a 10 % ad valorem duty rate. 

Covered HTS classifications: 4403.11.00; 4403.21.01; 4403.22.01; 4403.23.01; 4403.24.01; 4403.25.01; 4403.26.01; 4403.99.01; 4406.11.00; 4406.91.00; 4407.11.00; 4407.12.00; 4407.13.00; 4407.14.00; 4407.19.00. 

• Imports of certain upholstered wooden furniture seats as provided under Annex I shall be subject to a 25 % ad valorem duty rate. This 25 % duty rate will increase to 30 % effective January 1, 2026, except for imports from countries where the United States reaches an agreement that addresses the threatened impairment of the national security posed by imports of wood products. 

Covered HTS classifications: 9401.61.4011; 9401.61.4031; 9401.61.6011; 9401.61.6031.

• Imports of kitchen cabinets and vanities as provided under Annex I shall be subject to a 25 % ad valorem duty rate. The 25 % duty rate “shall apply to completed kitchen cabinets and vanities as well as parts imported for use in kitchen cabinets and vanities.” The 25 % duty rate for imports of kitchen cabinets and vanities will increase to 50 % effective January 1, 2026, except for imports from countries where the United States reaches an agreement that addresses the threatened impairment of the national security posed by imports of wood products. 

Covered HTS classifications: 9403.40.9060; 9403.60.8093; 9403.91.0080.

Note that these Section 232 tariffs are based on HTS classification and only those HTS classifications listed will be subject to these new tariffs. 

Stacking Update:

The new Section 232 tariffs will not be stacked with the existing reciprocal tariffs in place, the 40% IEEPA tariffs imposed on Brazil, the IEEPA tariffs of 25% that are imposed on India for Russian oil, and the 10% IEEPA fentanyl tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico. For wood products subject to both the new tariffs and the 232 auto and auto parts tariffs, only the auto and auto parts tariffs will apply. 

However, it is important to note that the new Section 232 tariffs appear to apply in addition to the China IEEPA fentanyl tariffs as well as the Section 301 tariffs on China.

Finally, the Proclamation allows the Secretary of Commerce to impose additional tariffs if the Secretary finds that there is a risk of undervaluation of wood products subject to these new Section 232 tariffs. It also provides a process for parties to request the inclusion of additional products to be covered by this action in the future. We expect to see U.S. Customs and Border Protection release details on implementation and interpretation in the coming weeks.

Please contact RV Industry Association Director of Federal Affairs Samantha Rocci at srocci@rvia.org with any questions.