14 | Opinion
RIDING OUT THE TARIFF STORM
Tariffs are an additional challenge the timber trade didn’t need, but it can rise to it, writes Keith Fryer, business development director at Fort Builders’ Merchant
Apparently tariffs (Tarifs) originated as commission payments charged by Asian merchants to cover the cost of acting as a trader. Today they’re being weaponised by governments ostensibly to support their domestic industries, with the US of course, leading the way. Now goods are being hit with 10% tariffs as a starting point if they’re heading to the US. If you’re a Chinese-based manufacturer you’re being hit with rates well over 100%, plus other charges, such as US$1m for each ship entering a US port. Then of course we end up in a ‘tit for tat’ world of retributionary tariffs and before we know it global trade turns down.
Timber is in many respects a commodity. The world needs timber products for a huge range of uses. Given the environmental pickle that it’s in, it could also do with some help from timber in terms of substituting use of polluting or unsustainable materials. To see it being used as some form of trading weapon goes totally against what we want as timber traders and users. What the ultimate effect of tariffs will be for timber is anyone’s guess, partly because the current tariff regime is in constant fl ux. But in the short term some timber products in the UK will probably decline in price as China hunts for new markets, while others will rise. Some may get blown all over the place. What we can be certain of is that this all adds uncertainty within a market that is already hard enough.
So, what can we do to try and protect timber products during these turbulent times? After all, as we all know, timber prices in general are too low to sustain production against the costs being borne. Tariffs just add weight to the costs, without passing anything
back to the companies providing the materials. One of our main efforts must be to promote the positive uses of timber. We must tell people about its performance potential and the benefi ts of using it. Another is to maintain or improve quality. Devaluing timber is not a way out of this; lowering prices to make tariffs disappear is probably not an option anyway, because margins simply don’t allow for it. Consistency is crucial, so that customers recognise that timber is a reliable partner. We must also add value. The more that we can make our timber products acceptable to a larger market the better and that comes through providing things which are appealing, effective, durable and good value. We must be inventive.
Timber has been around as long, if not far longer, than the word ‘Tarif’ and will be here long after this self- infl icted mess has gone away. We need to steer the ship straight into those huge waves and not allow ourselves to get broadsided. The storm will subside and when those waters calm, we can recover and regain our charted course. ■
What the ultimate effect of tariffs will be for timber is anyone’s guess. In the short term some timber products in the UK will probably decline in price as China hunts for new markets, while others will rise. Some may get blown all over the place
TTJ | May/June 2025 |
www.ttjonline.com
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