CLINTON, Tenn. (WATE) — A hardwood industry trade association, the Hardwood Federation, has sent a letter to the White House urging the current administration to aid local lumber and hardwood mills as tariffs continue to impact their businesses.
This coming in response to the plans the administration announced to provide aid to soybean farmers feeling the impact of tariffs on their largest customer, China.
Of the more than 400 lumber and hardwood mills listed in the letter, 37 are from Tennessee and among them is Oak Ridge Hardwoods.
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“It’s just getting harder and harder for any steady business because nobody knows what’s going to happen,” said Owner and President of Oak Ridge Hardwoods, Chris Keziah.
Keziah said lumber and hardwood is an export-dependent industry.
“It got heavily concentrated specifically in China, there’s other markets, but it got specifically concentrated in China, and so as the tensions have built in the in the tariff and trade wars, we sort of got caught in the middle,” he said.
Keziah said his father started the mill in 1976, and it has been operating for nearly 50 years now. But at the rate they are going, they are asking the White House to help alleviate the pressure put on them by tariffs.
“We’re one of the few industries that still sells our product at prices similar to the 1990s and 2000, and we’re in the 2020s,” he said, “and insurance costs, fuel costs, electric costs, every cost has gone up and our product prices stay about the same because of the contraction of the market.”
Just like any other farmer, Keziah said hardwood and lumber is an agricultural product, which is why they are asking for this relief.
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“The reality of it is we’re suffering from it and we need help,” he said. “Mills are closing every day, going out of business and once our business is closed, the skilled labor that’s in it, they migrate off to different industries, and it’s hard to get people to come back.”
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Despite looking after the wellbeing of his industry, Keziah said they also support local communities by providing jobs, but those jobs could be on the chopping block if they can’t make a profit.
“That’s nationwide and very specifically in Tennessee. That’s a local thing that it hurts the weakest communities when you take industries like ours out,” he said.
Keziah said this isn’t the first time the industry has been impacted by tariffs either. Back in 2018, they took a hit in President Donald Trump’s first trade war and have seen a decline ever since.
