Dozens of TN hardwood companies join industry plea for federal relief from tariff hardships

Nearly 40 Tennessee lumber mills and producers signed onto an Oct. 14 letter to the Trump administration, seeking access to relief from tariff-related economic losses. (Photo: Cassandra Stephenson)

Nearly 40 Tennessee hardwood companies are among hundreds of U.S. hardwood industry operators calling for federal relief from tariff-induced economic hardship.

Tennessee’s forestry products industry supports an estimated 85,000 jobs, according to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, which includes the state’s Division of Forestry. Forest products are the fourth-largest agricultural commodity in the state. Export sales dipped by $45 million in 2023, resulting in an estimated loss of 362 jobs, according to a University of Tennessee report.

The industry as a whole lost an estimated $9 billion in commercial opportunities since the 2018 trade war began when President Donald Trump first escalated tariffs against China, one of the United States’ biggest export markets since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. But the lumber industry was not included in federal tariff relief payments made to agricultural producers in 2018, according to an Oct. 14 letter to Trump administration officials signed by 452 lumber industry mills, manufacturers and distributors across the U.S.

Tariffs on some Chinese goods continued through former President Joe Biden’s administration. Trade tensions flared again with Trump’s return to office and renewed tariff escalation threats this year as China imposed export controls on rare-earth minerals — key components for electric batteries, computer chips, smart phones and more. 

China halted imports of U.S. logs in April amid retaliatory measures against heightening U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump reached a deal with China in late October, in which China agreed to resume purchases of U.S. logs, according to the White House.

Tariff negotiations and fluctuating trade relationships compounded an already difficult market for U.S. hardwood mills, according to Claire Getty, CFO at Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods in Huntland, Tennessee. The company works with landowners and loggers in a 150-mile radius of its rural headquarters, paying them for the cut logs that the company then processes in its sawmills. Historically, the company focused on creating products for homes: furniture, molding, millwork, trim, floors, cabinets and doors, for example. But the rise in popularity of cheaper man-made materials (for example, vinyl floors that resemble wood) has crippled the hardwood market, she said.

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“The North American hardwood industry has really suffered, and tariffs exacerbated that, because it causes prices (for hardwood) to be even higher, which then causes the manufacturers of these consumer products to have even more reason to find alternative materials,” Getty said.

The letter to Trump’s administration encouraged officials to give the U.S. hardwood sector “equitable access to relief programs” to “safeguard rural jobs, secure a sustainable domestic supply chain, and preserve a proud American industry for generations to come.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not confirm whether the administration plans to issue payments to agriculture producers who were negatively impacted by tariffs, though Politico reported on Oct. 30 that up to $12 billion may be put toward farm aid payments. The USDA also did not respond to The Tennessee Lookout’s inquiry on whether the department is considering making forestry industry producers eligible for future tariff aid.

“Currently, the farm economy is in a difficult situation, and President Trump is utilizing all the tools available to ensure farmers have what they need to continue their farming operations,” the spokesperson stated in an email, adding that the USDA will continue to “assess the farm economy and explore the need for further assistance.”

Getty and other companies that signed the letter are seeking relief payments and an agricultural designation for lumber mills. Getty said she sees that kind of acknowledgement as a step toward potential federal help for the industry overall. She points to programs that offered tax credits for energy efficiency improvements in homes, and a previously proposed bill that would have offered similar credit for installing solid hardwood products.

“For us, that’s really where a starting point is, being acknowledged as a critical ag producer to manage these resources,” Getty said. “And because we are considered (a critical ag producer), what can be done to support and help strengthen U.S. forest product markets — hardwood markets, specifically — to help us change this demand curve that we are fighting against.”

Mills diversify businesses to survive, ask for federal support

Getty said Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods has weathered the ebbs and flows of tariffs and industry shifts since 2018 by diversifying its export partners and turning toward industrial markets for hardwood instead of products made for homes.

Export sales made up 61% of Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods’ lumber sales in 2018, when exports took a hit from the first trade war. It took until 2022 for exports to rise again to about 63% of the company’s sales, with 45% of those sales coming from China. But in 2025, export sales dropped to 45%, and exports to China fell to 15%, Getty said.

The volatility and uncertainty caused by trade negotiations proved to be the most challenging, she said.

In October, Getty said the company had nine orders canceled after rhetoric of rising tariffs, followed by an about-face toward smoother negotiations. But those nine loads were still canceled or delayed by three weeks, and the average price of each load is $20,000.

“That was $180,000 that got shifted out of our sales and our revenue to a future date,” Getty said. “That’s what’s been happening all year.”

The trade deal reached with China in late October states that the country will resume its purchase of U.S. logs, something Getty’s company does not directly export to China. But there are several outfits in Tennessee that do sell logs to China, and this will positively impact the price those companies can get for their logs, she said.

The trade deal also brought back an element of overall stability for hardwood exports — Getty’s sales team saw an increase in calls and orders from China directly following the deal’s announcement.

“What we have found this week is it seems like everybody is moving forward in good faith that there will be fair and reasonable trade moving forward,” she said.

But Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods has also taken steps to hamper the negative impacts of any future trade disputes. The company has invested in strengthening trade relationships with Vietnam and is looking for other markets in Mexico and the Middle East region.

In 2022, the business invested in an industrial sawmill that produces railroad crossties used to maintain U.S. rail infrastructure. The mill started running in 2025, providing a more stable source of income — railroad companies typically buy around 19 million crossties every year, Getty said.

“It’s just diversifying our overall blend, because at one point … our exports were a very high percentage of our business, and then that Chinese sector was a very high percentage of that, and we can’t find ourselves in that position again,” she said.

Over the last three years, Getty watched as sawmill after sawmill shuttered, and she worries that in the long term, those losses will stamp out market-driven options for forest management. Companies like hers pay landowners and harvesters for the trees they cut down, and ensure every part of the tree is used, from the logs to the wood chips and sawdust. 

If mills go out of business, landowners and governments may have to shoulder the cost of tree removal instead, Getty said. 

Federal aid could help offset some of the profits lost during trade wars and help some businesses stay afloat, she said. The companies that have survived may not have been able to invest in maintenance for their mills, expansion or employee benefits while they were in “fight-or-flight mode.”

“Our forest products companies and sawmills … have been running at either break-even margins or a less than 2-3% profit margin for the last 36 months, or in the negative,” Getty said. “That insertion of capital kind of helps everybody catch their breath.”