President Trump’s Executive Orders Concerning the United States Forest Sector -Dovetail Partners' Opinions

In March 2025 United States President Donald Trump issued two executive orders (EOs) affecting the forest sector worldwide. EO 14225,“Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production,” aims broadly to increase harvests on national forests. EO 14223, “Addressing the threat to national security from imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products” aims at reducing imports of wood and paper products. These two EOs have proponents and opponents within and outside the forest sector, depending on impacts on diverse constituencies. The EOs cover various issues and make claims and directives for timely action by secretaries of four government agencies. In this opinion piece, Dovetail Partners considers the impacts on the US forest sector and its trading partners. We analyze some of the EOs’ salient features and in considering the divergent viewpoints of those parties impacted, we offer our opinions. Overall the EOs and tariffs on wood and paper trade have created tremendous uncertainty in the global forest sector.