Additional Pause On Tariffs For Both China And U.S.
ahec.org
At press time it was announced that there will be a 90 day pause in additional tariffs for both China and the United States, lowering the effective tariff rate on U.S. hardwood products going into China to 10 percent. The U.S. will also reduce its tariffs on Chinese products from 145 percent down to 30 percent for 90 days.
This announcement came after Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with the Chinese over the weekend in Geneva with Chinese officials to reach the unexpected agreement.
As part of this pause, China also agreed to “adopt all necessary administrative measures to suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025.” Notably, the Chinese ban on U.S. logs was announced in March, leaving it out of the scope of this agreement. At this time there is still not a timeline for restoring market access, but the Administration and USTR are aware of the ban and are working with the Chinese towards a solution.
This statement comes right before tariffs were set to go into effect and will push the full Chinese tariffs of 125 percent on U.S. products back into August. All of the statements refer to a delay of “90 days,” but do not give an actual date for the implementation of full tariffs. At this time, it is unclear if the 90 days are counted from the announcement today, the original implementation day, May 13th, or the official action to suspend the tariffs which is required from each country “by May 14.” The new tariffs, at press time, were expected to likely go into effect somewhere from August 8-12th. Until then, expect U.S. products to be assessed a 10 percent tariff.
The American Hardwood Export Council team is working to keep their members updated of any changes and would like to remind readers that the Hardwood Federation (hardwood.federation@hardwoodfederation.com) is always looking for feedback from you on how trade policy is affecting your business.
For more information, visit hardwoodfederation.com or ahec.org.
