Mark Ross: Wood Processors & Manufacturers Association of NZ CEO on the timber sector escaping the tariffs

There is relief among New Zealand's wood exporters - who've escaped the import tariffs set by the US.

Imports of timber and lumbar products into the US have dodged tariffs, as confirmed by President Donald Trump,

The United States was New Zealand's third largest market for timber exports, after China and Australia.

Wood Processors & Manufacturers Association of NZ CEO Mark Ross says this doesn't come as a surprise - given how much America relies on timber for construction. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Reilly and Bread read twenty four minutes away from seven
now a local tim exporters. They are for now breathing
asigh of relief. The global timber industry will be immune
from sweeping tariff and posed on most of the world
last week. This is to help America with home building
and they successfully lobbied Washington for this. He said, an

(00:20):
export about three hundred and sixty million dollars worth of
radiator pine and to the US last year about six
percent of our overall timber exports. Wood process As and
Manufacturers Association CEO Mark Ross, he looks after our wood
industry and joins me now high Marc.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good day, Ryan, and thanks bringing on your show.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Good to have you here. So what first of all,
were you surprised that there was an exemption given?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Oh, lord, not totally surprised. One of the main reasons
they've got a Section two to three investigation on which
is looking at too many of effects imports of timber
and lover have on the United States supply chain. So
that's need to just close off on the first of April.
In a way of submission, that inquiry is going through
to probably November. So in the interim they've put this

(01:09):
exemption on timber and number being imported into the US.
And also our power of the lobbyists in America who
actually helping our cause, local home building associations and the
Building Materials Alliance. They're lobbying White House hard to make
sure that imported some of that can still come into
America as a means of keeping house prices done.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
This is our third light. I mean, should we need
to pay a tariff? Well, actually, if they do put
the tariffs back on and they take away this exemption,
presumably we would be in a better position than others
because our tariff rates only ten percent.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, I'd hopes so too. In the products we supply
the actually need. Look, there's no ponustrating out processing in
men in America, so we supply products that go straight
into do it yourself from the home market. And the
high quality products are the durable and the appearance grade products,
and they love them and they really want us to

(02:08):
keep exporting those. So so, yeah, just staying the market's
going thirty percent in the last five years, so we're
really hoping that, you know, we're not the target the
Canadians and Mexico eighty percent of the US imported kimber market.
It's sort of the targets and we're hoping we make it.
You can slip by, but it's a long shot that

(02:29):
for now here.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, would that be your main competitor would be the
Canadians going into the US?

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Oh, I know that not on the products that we export,
but just generally. You know, they export a lot of
lumber into the US, and you know, Chump's having a
bit of a go of late.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, it doesn't like Canada. I don't know what they've
done wrong, but something pretty bad. All right, So this
is all kind of fine for you guys at the moment.
You'll you'll watch and see how it goes. What about
the six percent that we do export there? If you
needed to read direct it would that be relatively easy
to do because I know number one is trying to
write Number two is Australia and then number three is

(03:06):
the US.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, and it'd be pretty hard. The companies that export
there is about fifteen to eighteen New Zealand businesses. They've
worked really hard to get those markets and they've actually
spent a lot of time on the ground building them up,
and some of them are actually sort of unique to
the US, so it'd be really hard to substitute those markets.
You know, we're doing a lot more to Asia now,

(03:29):
to parts of Vietnam and Philippines for example, But yeah, yeah,
we'd love to retain it the US market, and if
we can main tariff exempt, it'll be great.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
And what sort of stuff are we actually sending you
mentioned like, is it home DIY stores that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, yes, it's like a parents grade timber. It's for example,
there's products going in like prime treated, terrible pain sightings
and tromboard, so it's quite specialist construction products. And you
know durability when they've been treated as thairty as clusters
us as the local cedar and redward products which are
so durable and don't take the treatment so well. So

(04:09):
and also we do long clear board, so we prone
our pine trees. We got a great story to tell
about a sustainable pine plantations, but that's another story. But
you leave it and you get long clear timber, so
they don't have any knots in their parents' grade and
they look great on the houses and that you can
see that around your celland as well. Yeah, we've just

(04:30):
got a real niche market there.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Brilliant long mate. Last Mark, thanks for coming on the show.
That's Mark Ross, CEO of the Wood Processes and Manufacturers
Association New Zealanders. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive,
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