Trump sets 10% tariff on lumber imports, 25% on cabinets, furniture

US President Donald J. Trump said on Monday he was slapping 10% tariffs on imported timber and lumber and 25% duties on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and upholstered furniture, continuing his tariff assault on global trading partners.

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The action is the first in three sectors that Mr. Trump said last week would get steep new duties as early as Oct. 1, including patented pharmaceutical imports, and heavy truck imports. Monday's proclamation sets the start of the lumber and furniture duties two weeks later, at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Oct. 14.

Mr. Trump signed a presidential proclamation laying out his argument that timber, lumber and furniture imports are eroding US national security to justify the new duties under Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Mr. Trump's increasing use of Section 232 comes as he awaits a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of his broader "reciprocal" tariffs on global trading partners, which two lower courts have struck down.

The proclamation said the tariff rates would start on Oct. 14 but added that duties would increase on Jan. 1 to 30% for upholstered wooden products and 50% for kitchen cabinets and vanities imported from countries that failed to reach an agreement with the United States.