Capito, Shaheen Urge USTR to Include American Hardwood Lumber in U.S.-China Trade Framework

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) led a bipartisan, bicameral group of U.S. Senators and Representatives, in a new letter urging United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer to explicitly include American hardwood lumber within the recently established U.S.-China Board of Trade. Representatives GT Thompson (R-Pa.-15) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.-03) led the letter in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"We write to urge the Administration to include American hardwood lumber in the framework for the newly formed U.S.-China Board of Trade and to ensure that any Chinese procurement commitments include American hardwood lumber, not logs, so that domestic lumber manufacturing is not undercut by China. The American hardwood lumber industry is vital to our states and the U.S. economy overall, supporting sawmills, loggers and rural economies across the country. We believe that if the Board of Trade focuses on hardwood lumber, it can provide much needed economic relief for domestic lumber manufacturers and support communities that depend on a competitive American hardwood industry," the members wrote.

"The cumulative cost of lost market access is estimated at $9.882 billion in foregone sales. This loss in sales led to a massive decline in production; domestic hardwood lumber production has dropped 48.3 percent since 2018, capacity was down 6 percent between 2020 and 2022 and output in the first quarter of 2025 declined 19 percent from 2024," the members continued.

"Historically, China has accounted for roughly 25% of U.S. hardwood lumber production, and restoring this relationship is essential to communities in our states and across the county. We support the Administration's interest supporting American manufacturing and request that USTR to take the following steps: explicitly include American hardwood lumber in the Board of Trade framework; include American hardwood lumber - not logs - in China's $17 billion procurement commitment; and include enforceable compliance mechanisms with measurable targets specific to hardwood lumber and regularly review hardwood lumber purchases at the Board of Trade to ensure actual purchases are made," the members concluded.

Full text of the letter can be found here.

# # #