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Report from
North America
Government shutdown – postponement of economic
and trade data release
Funding for US Federal agencies lapsed 1 October after
Congress was unable to agree on a stopgap bill to prevent
a government shutdown. In a shutdown, government
offices continue essential work, but tasks deemed non-
essential come to a halt, paychecks stop and many workers
are furloughed until Congress passes new funding. The
impact on both individuals and the economy depends on
whether the shutdown lasts a few days or weeks and on
whether the White House moves ahead with its plans to
fire workers during the lapse in funding.
The government shutdown halted the release of key
economic data and will cause delays even when the
government reopens. The Labour Department failed to
release its report about hiring in September, the first time
since 2013 the monthly report has been delayed. The
Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau, two
important sources of additional data, also said they will
pause scheduled releases for the duration of the shutdown.
The Department of Agriculture has temporarily shut down
its site for reporting trade data. Visitors to the site see only
a banner saying, “This system is offline due to a lapse in
Federal government funding.”
Despite the cessation of data collection, essential parts of
the government’s trade agenda are largely shielded from
the shutdown according to agency plans. Tariff collection
by Customs and Border Protection will continue at US
ports of entry unabated.
Elsewhere, the Commerce Department said it would
continue work on open tariff investigations related to
national security under Section 232 of the Trade
Expansion Act, covering products such as pharmaceuticals
and semiconductors. That means remaining staff won’t
have to halt analysis that will likely result in tariffs on
those sectors and others.
Over the last five decades, there have been 21 Federal
shutdowns, many of which lasted only a day or two. The
most recent government shutdown, during Trump’s first
term, began in December 2018 and lasted more than a
month. It was the longest in US history.
See: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/what-to-
expect-from-the-federal-government-shutdown/ar-
AA1NDGJS?ocid=BingNewsVerp
and
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/lack-of-jobs-data-due-
to-government-shutdown-muddies-the-outlook-for-hiring-and-
the-economy/ar-AA1NNULj?ocid=BingNewsVerp
Tariff on cabinets, furniture and sawnwood
The US will impose a 10% tariff on imported sawnwood
and a 25% duty on imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom
vanities and upholstered furniture, with the rate on the
latter categories to jump next year.
A presidential proclamation laying out his argument that
wood products and furniture imports are eroding US
national security to justify the new duties under Section
232 of the Trade Act of 1974.
The proclamation said the tariff rates would start on 14
October but added that duties will increase on 1 January to
30% for upholstered wooden products and to 50% for
kitchen cabinets and vanities imported from countries that
fail to reach an agreement with the US.
The proclamation said wood product imports are
weakening the US economy resulting in the persistent
threat of closures of wood mills and disruptions of wood
product supply chains and diminishing utilisation of the
US domestic wood resources and industrial capacity.
"Because of the state of the United States wood industry
the United States may be unable to meet demands for
wood products that are crucial to the national defense and
critical infrastructure," the statement said.
The Canadian wood products industry is set to be hit hard
by the order. Luke Elias, Vice President of the Canadian
Kitchen Cabinet Association, told CTV News, that the
tariffs would have a "significant impact, devastating
actually" to the Canadian cabinetry industry.
The major exporters of kitchen cabinets to the US are
Canada, Viet Nam, China and Mexico, with Viet Nam
being the leading global exporter and a significant source
of cabinetry for the US market. Other Asian countries like
Malaysia and Indonesia also export to the US, especially
as importers shift away from China due to tariffs.
According to Volza's United States Import data, the United
States imported 1,048,897 shipments of kitchen cabinets
between June 2024 and May 2025.
The proclamation gave special rates for several countries.
For instance, the United Kingdom, the European Union,
and Japan will enjoy more favorable treatment that reflects
the terms of their trade deals with the United States.
Trading partners who negotiate with the United States to
"address the threat of wood imports to the national
security of the United States" may be able to secure an
alternative to the pending tariff increases.
See:
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-
industry-news/trump-slaps-25-tariff-cabinets-and-furniture-10-
lumber-eye
Decorative hardwoods industry urges increase of
products under section 232 tariffs proposal
Following the announcement of the new Section 232
tariffs on wood products a group of nine CEOs and
presidents representing American manufacturers of
hardwood plywood, engineered wood flooring and
hardwood veneer asked for their products to be added to
the list.
According to the group of companies, more than 100,000
American manufacturing jobs are threatened by the "flood
of dumped and subsidised decorative hardwood product
imports from outside of North America." The group
pointed to the news that Roseburg Forest Products had
closed its last hardwood plywood mill and exited the
hardwood plywood market as a result of these imports
which the company said dominate 80% of the US market.
Jeremy Manthei, CEO of Manthei Wood Products, stated
that “dumped and subsidised hardwood plywood from
overseas is wiping out our industry,” and requested that
hardwood plywood, engineered wood flooring and
hardwood veneer be added to the Section 232 wood
product tariffs.
See:
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-
industry-news/decorative-hardwoods-industry-urges-trump-
expand-products-under
July residential furniture orders show growth
New residential furniture orders rose 13% in July
compared to the same period in 2024 according to the
September issue of Furniture Insights. New orders also
rose compared to the month prior, up 6% over June figures
according to Mark Laferriere, assurance partner at Smith
Leonard, the accounting and consulting firm that produces
the monthly report. Approximately two-thirds of
participants reported increases compared to a year ago.
Although he expressed concern about the new Section 232
tariff on upholstered furniture imports, Laferriere
expressed optimism about future sales. “It was good to see
the year on year increases in both new orders and
shipments this month which bring the July 2025 year-to-
date results almost even with the prior year and provide a
glimmer of hope for the remainder of the year and into
2026."
New residential furniture orders are now down just 1% for
the year-to-date, compared to last year.
See: https://www.smith-leonard.com/2025/10/03/september-
2025-furniture-insights/
Home sales dipped in August
Sales of previously owned US homes moved lower in
August amid affordability issues for buyers, thanks to still-
pricey homes on the market and interest rates on
mortgages that remain relatively steep despite recent drops
in borrowing costs.
Home sales slipped 0.2% last month to a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 4 million units from an unrevised
4.01 million in July the National Association of Realtors
reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast home
resales would slip slightly further, to 3.96 million units.
Sales rose 1.8% on a year-over-year basis.
“Home sales have been sluggish over the past few years
due to elevated mortgage rates and limited inventory,”
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.
“However, mortgage rates are declining, and more
inventory is coming to the market which should boost
sales in the coming months.”
The sales pace over the last two years has averaged around
4 million units a month, a weaker rate than seen even
during the 2007-2009 recession that was triggered by a
collapse in the housing market.
Sales in the Northeast decreased 4% month on month to an
annual rate of 480,000, down 2% year on yearr. The
Midwest saw a 2.1% increase in sales month on month to
an annual rate of 960,000, up 3.2% year on year. In the
South sales decreased 1.1% month-over-month to an
annual rate of 1.83 million, up 3.4% year-over-year. In the
West, there was a 1.4% increase in sales month on month
to an annual rate of 730,000, down 1.4% year on year.
See: https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-existing-home-sales-
report-shows-0-2-decrease-in-august
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