NEWS

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed technical changes to its formaldehyde emission standards program for composite wood products. Changes include updating the referenced editions of standards used for product specifications and formaldehyde testing and incorporating ISO 12460-2:2024(en) as an additional small-scale chamber method for quality-control testing. The comment period ends March 13.

PHOTO © Capital Testing

The newly introduced Housing Tariff Exclusion Act would automatically exempt many homebuilding materials, including engineered wood products, from current and future tariffs, and allow importers to apply for tariff exemptions on homebuilding materials that aren't exempt. The bill does not apply to antidumping or countervailing duties. The legislation is unlikely to pass, but it is symptomatic of the growing pressure on affordability.

The European Commission is reviewing the EU Deforestation Regulation and will recommend changes by April 30. The American Hardwood Export Council continues to advocate for practical changes, such as removing the phrase "within a single real estate property" from the definition of "plot of land" to allow county-level compliance. Last year, AHEC built the American Hardwood Assured Platform to provide all due diligence data required by the EUDR. 

DHA joined more than 600 members of a nationwide coalition to urge U.S. senators to prioritize and pass bipartisan, comprehensive permitting reform legislation. The House of Representatives led the way by passing several important permitting reform bills in 2025. Their efforts reflect bipartisan recognition that our current permitting process is broken.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has released its preliminary affirmative antidumping duty findings on hardwood and decorative plywood from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. These duties went into effect on March 2. Commerce calculated preliminary antidumping duties of 187.27% on imports from China, 19.98% to 84.94% on imports from Indonesia, and 196.14% on imports from Vietnam.