A board of Canadian softwood arriving at a US port today pays under two entirely separate legal regimes at once. Section 232 charges 10% because imported timber was found to threaten national security. A Commerce antidumping and countervailing duty order charges roughly 35% more because Canadian lumber was found to be dumped and subsidised. Neither mechanism knows the other exists, and both apply in full.
That combination, close to 45% at the all-others rate, is the single most misunderstood number in wood importing, mainly because the two duties are announced separately, change on different schedules and appear on different lines of the entry summary. This guide separates them, gives the current rates and covers the furniture and cabinet increases that were widely reported as effective in January 2026 and were in fact postponed. Every rate below was checked against the proclamations themselves in August 2026.
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The Section 232 Wood Programme and Its Current Rates
Proclamation 10976, signed on 29 September 2025 and published at 90 FR 48127, brought timber and lumber into Section 232 effective 14 October 2025. CBP implemented it through CSMS #66492057.
The programme splits into raw and finished, and the scope is a list of specific ten-digit codes rather than whole headings. Softwood timber and lumber is covered at named subheadings within 4403, 4406 and 4407 at 10%; headings 4404 and 4405 are not covered. Upholstered wooden furniture is covered at four subheadings of 9401 at 25%, and kitchen cabinets and vanities at three subheadings of 9403, also at 25%. Reading the scope as whole headings sweeps in goods that carry no duty at all, which is the most common error in this programme.
Those rates are assessed under Chapter 99 subheadings 9903.76.01 for lumber, 9903.76.02 for upholstered furniture and 9903.76.03 for cabinets and vanities. Country caps sit at 9903.76.20 for the United Kingdom at 10%, and at 9903.76.21, .22, .23 and .24 for Japan, the European Union, South Korea and Taiwan at 15% inclusive of the Column 1 rate. Korea and Taiwan were added after the original proclamation, so lists naming only three excluded countries are out of date.
| Product | Chapter 99 | Rate now | Scheduled change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Softwood timber and lumber, named codes in 4403, 4406, 4407 | 9903.76.01 | 10% | None announced |
| Upholstered wooden furniture, four subheadings of 9401 | 9903.76.02 | 25% | 30% on 1 January 2027 |
| Kitchen cabinets and vanities, three subheadings of 9403 | 9903.76.03 | 25% | 50% on 1 January 2027 |
| United Kingdom origin | 9903.76.20 | Capped at 10% | – |
| Japan, EU, South Korea, Taiwan | 9903.76.21 to .24 | Capped at 15% incl. Column 1 | – |
The January 2026 Increases Did Not Happen
The original proclamation scheduled increases on furniture and cabinets for 1 January 2026. A great deal of trade coverage still states that those increases took effect, and importers have built 2026 budgets on the higher figures.
They did not take effect. Proclamation 11000, signed on 31 December 2025 and published at 91 FR 1039, delayed the increases by a full year to 1 January 2027, citing ongoing negotiations. Upholstered furniture remains at 25% rather than 30%, and cabinets and vanities remain at 25% rather than 50%.
For a cabinet importer the difference is half the value of the goods, so this is not a footnote. It also means the increase is still coming, and a 2027 sourcing decision made on today’s 25% will be wrong in the other direction. The date to diary is 1 January 2027, and the thing to watch is whether a further delay follows the first one.
The Canada AD/CVD Order Is a Different Animal Entirely
Antidumping and countervailing duties on certain softwood lumber products from Canada predate the Section 232 action by years and rest on a completely different legal basis. Section 232 responds to a national security finding made by the President. AD/CVD responds to findings by the Commerce Department that goods were sold below fair value or benefited from countervailable subsidies, and by the International Trade Commission that a US industry was injured.
The current all-others combined cash deposit rate is 35.16%, made up of 20.53% antidumping and 14.63% countervailing. The antidumping component comes from amended final results published in September 2025, which revised the earlier 20.56% figure down. Company-specific rates differ, sometimes substantially, so the all-others figure is a starting point rather than an answer for any particular supplier.
Combined with the 10% Section 232 duty, a Canadian softwood entry at the all-others rate carries roughly 45.16%. Both appear on the entry, both are collected, and neither offsets the other. The mechanics of how a case produces that number are covered in our guide to antidumping and countervailing duties, and they matter here because the rate is not fixed.
Why the AD/CVD Rate Moves and Preliminary Results Do Not Change It
AD/CVD rates are recalculated in annual administrative reviews, which is why a lumber importer’s cash deposit rate can change without any new tariff being announced. Each review looks back at a period of entries, recalculates margins and sets a new deposit rate going forward while also assessing final duties on the reviewed entries.
The seventh review is in progress. Preliminary results issued in April 2026 pointed to a combined rate of roughly 24.83%, and Commerce issued post-preliminary countervailing results on 30 June 2026. Those numbers have been reported as though the rate had already fallen.
It has not. Preliminary and post-preliminary results do not change cash deposit rates. Only the final results do, and as of 26 August 2026 the final results had not issued. The only softwood notice published since is a company-specific countervailing expedited review in August 2026, which does not move the all-others rate. Until the finals publish, 35.16% remains the rate collected at the border.
The practical exposure runs in both directions. An importer paying 35.16% today on entries that will later be assessed at a lower final rate is over-depositing and will be refunded at liquidation. An importer who budgets on the preliminary figure and is wrong faces a cash flow gap now, not at liquidation.
Chapter 44 or Chapter 94 Decides the Rate
The classification line between lumber and finished wood articles carries a 15-point rate difference today and will carry a 40-point difference on cabinets from January 2027. Where a product sits between the two is therefore worth resolving properly.
Chapter 44 covers wood and articles of wood in a fairly raw or semi-processed state. Chapter 94 covers furniture and its parts. A component that has been shaped, drilled and finished to become part of a cabinet is moving toward Chapter 94; dimensional lumber is not. Panels, blanks and partly worked components sit in the contested middle.
Because the duty consequence is now large, the classification reasoning has to be defensible under the General Rules of Interpretation rather than convenient, and GRI 2(a) on incomplete and unassembled articles is frequently the rule in play. Where the answer is genuinely arguable, a binding ruling settles it before the exposure accumulates across a year of entries.
What Importers Are Actually Doing About It
The first move is verifying the supplier-specific AD/CVD rate rather than assuming all-others. A Canadian mill with its own calculated rate may be materially cheaper or more expensive than the 35.16% headline, and that difference is a sourcing input rather than a customs detail.
The second is deferral. Wood products are bulky, seasonal and often held in inventory, which makes duty timing worth managing. Admission to a foreign-trade zone or a bonded warehouse defers the charge until the goods are withdrawn for consumption, and for a product carrying 45% that timing has real financing value.
The third is origin diversification, which is where the two mechanisms diverge in a useful way. The AD/CVD order applies to Canada specifically. Section 232 applies globally. Moving softwood sourcing outside Canada removes the 35.16% but keeps the 10%, and whether that trade is worth making depends on freight, species availability and lead time as much as on duty. That is a landed-cost comparison rather than a duty comparison, and it belongs in a full landed cost model before anyone re-tenders a supply agreement.
A separate Canada-specific point worth flagging for anyone importing more than lumber: Proclamations 11046, 11047 and 11048, all signed on 20 July 2026, impose additional duties on Canadian alcoholic beverages, dairy and motor vehicles. They are unrelated to wood, and readers frequently conflate them with the lumber measures.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current lumber tariff rate?
Named softwood timber and lumber codes within HTS headings 4403, 4406 and 4407 carry 10% under Section 232. Four subheadings of 9401 covering upholstered wooden furniture and three subheadings of 9403 covering kitchen cabinets and vanities carry 25%. The scope is a list of specific codes, not whole headings. Canadian softwood additionally carries antidumping and countervailing duties, currently 35.16% combined at the all-others rate.
Did the furniture and cabinet tariffs increase in January 2026?
No. Proclamation 11000, signed 31 December 2025, delayed the scheduled increases by one year to 1 January 2027. Upholstered furniture remains at 25% rather than 30%, and kitchen cabinets and vanities remain at 25% rather than 50%. A number of trade sources still report the increases as effective, which is incorrect.
Do Section 232 and AD/CVD duties both apply to Canadian lumber?
Yes. They are separate legal mechanisms addressing separate findings, and neither offsets the other. Section 232 rests on a national security determination; AD/CVD rests on findings of dumping, subsidisation and injury. Both are collected on the same entry.
Has the Canada softwood AD/CVD rate dropped to 25%?
Not yet. Preliminary results in April 2026 indicated a lower combined rate, and post-preliminary countervailing results issued on 30 June 2026. Preliminary results do not change cash deposit rates. Only final results do, and those had not issued as of 26 August 2026, so 35.16% remains the collected rate.
Does the lumber tariff apply to countries other than Canada?
Yes. The Section 232 wood action is global, with a rate cap for the United Kingdom at 10% and for Japan, the European Union, South Korea and Taiwan at 15% inclusive of the Column 1 rate. The antidumping and countervailing duty order is specific to Canada, so sourcing outside Canada removes that component but not the Section 232 duty.
How do I know whether my product is Chapter 44 or Chapter 94?
Chapter 44 covers wood and wood articles in a raw or semi-processed state, while Chapter 94 covers furniture and parts. Partly worked panels, blanks and components sit in the contested middle, and GRI 2(a) on incomplete or unassembled articles is often the deciding rule. Given the rate gap, a binding ruling is usually cheaper than being wrong.
