Kentucky's lumber industry is collapsing. Is there a plan?
Spectrum News
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The American hardwood lumber industry is in crisis, battered by tariffs, plunging exports, the collapse of U.S. furniture production, and a consumer shift toward cheaper, synthetic look-alike wood alternatives.
Consumption of U.S. hardwood lumber has dropped 60% since 1999, according to a report from the University of Kentucky’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.
In Kentucky alone, 78 wood industry facilities, mostly sawmills, have closed from 2022 to 2026, and 46 counties have had at least one mill closure from 2022 to 2025, according to data published by the department in August.
The industry’s problems accelerated in 2018, when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imports from China, which had been buying about half of America’s hardwood lumber exports, according to the industry group, the Hardwood Federation.
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Kentucky's lumber industry is collapsing. Is there a plan?
Spectrum News
170,707 views
The American hardwood lumber industry is in crisis, battered by tariffs, plunging exports, the collapse of U.S. furniture production, and a consumer shift toward cheaper, synthetic look-alike wood alternatives.
Consumption of U.S. hardwood lumber has dropped 60% since 1999, according to a report from the University of Kentucky’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.
In Kentucky alone, 78 wood industry facilities, mostly sawmills, have closed from 2022 to 2026, and 46 counties have had at least one mill closure from 2022 to 2025, according to data published by the department in August.
The industry’s problems accelerated in 2018, when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imports from China, which had been buying about half of America’s hardwood lumber exports, according to the industry group, the Hardwood Federation.
#SpectrumNews
For more on this and the latest news from across the country: http://specne.ws/2NmwH8
Watch live news: http://specne.ws/YTliveSN
Get the Spectrum News App on all your favorite devices: http://specne.ws/GetSNApp2