President Donald Trump signed an executive order and a memorandum on March 1 regarding the U.S. lumber industry, addressing what White House officials called a crisis in both supply and demand.
The executive order, titled “Freeing Our Forest,” will focus on supply, ordering the secretaries of various departments and federal agencies to reverse federal policies and propose ways to expedite and increase domestic timber and lumber production.
The increased timber production will be directly tied to an improvement in land management, according to the White House.
The memorandum will focus on demand, directing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to launch an investigation into the possible harm done to national security by importing lumber.
“Our disastrous timber and lumber policies, a legacy of the previous administration, trigger wildfires and degrade our fish and wildlife habitat,” said Peter Navarro, senior counselor on trade and manufacturing.
“They drive up construction and housing costs and impoverish America through large trade deficits that result from exporters like Canada, Germany, and Brazil dumping lumber into our markets at the expense of both our economic prosperity and national security. That stops today.”
Navarro said timber refers to the cutting and removal of trees, while lumber refers to the process of turning those trees into boards and building materials.
The executive order demands a whole-of-government operation, relying on department and agency heads, including the secretary of the interior, the secretary of agriculture, the director of the Bureau of Land Management, the chief of the U.S. Forest Service, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the secretary of commerce, through to the assistant administrator for fisheries, to propose ways to expedite production while also improving forest management in ways that are in compliance with existing legislation such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Tribal Forestry Protection Act.
These agencies’ responsibilities are split into several deadlines, with the first guidance issuance on increased timber production and sound forest management due within the next 30 days, and the last due in 280 days.
“All relevant agencies shall eliminate, to the maximum extent permissible by law, all undue delays within their respective permitting processes related to timber production,” Trump’s order reads.
“Additionally, all relevant agencies shall take all necessary and appropriate steps consistent with applicable law to suspend, revise, or rescind all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and other agency actions that impose an undue burden on timber production.”
The order also states that “agencies are directed to use, to the maximum extent permissible under applicable law, the ESA regulations on consultations in emergencies to facilitate the nation’s timber production.”
A White House official clarified that timber refers not just to cutting down of new trees but also the salvaging and clearing of already fallen trees. This will not only reduce the cost of building materials but will also improve wildlife management, he said.
“As you’re doing that, on the forest management, and what you do is you wind up dramatically increasing the ability to prevent wildfires, which are tremendously destructive, at the same time that you dramatically improve the habitat for fish and wildlife,” the official said.
Trump’s memorandum orders Lutnick to submit a report no later than 270 days from its signing that presents findings on whether timber and lumber imports threaten national security and recommendations on how to mitigate any related security threats, such as potential tariffs, export controls, or incentives for increasing domestic production. He should also submit policy recommendations for “strengthening the United States timber and lumber supply chain.”
During the investigation, Lutnick must assess the current and projected domestic demand for timber and lumber and the extent to which domestic production could meet that demand. He must also assess foreign supply chains and “the impact of foreign government subsidies and predatory trade practice” have on industry competitiveness and how increased domestic production can decrease imports.
“We have this reoccurring problem where globally, a set of bad actors, some of whom are punitive allies, develop massive overcapacity in their industry because their government subsidized them, and then they dump product into the United States,” the White House official said.
“We wind up losing our own domestic manufacturing capabilities, and that creates national security problems down the line, and timber and lumber, I think, really is an industry that never, ever should be highly import dependent.”
The official noted that U.S. dependency on important lumber has increased nearly elevenfold from the early 1990s to the present day, and the industry itself could create almost 1 million jobs.
