Senator Cochran was right on timber

• Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann says Mississippi needs to support a final resolution by President Trump which provides the state a fair ability to compete with this valuable Mississippi commodity.

There has been significant recent conversation about Canadian tariffs on many products, more specifically timber. This matters to Mississippi because timber is one of our state’s most important agricultural and economic commodities. Over 80% of the timber in Mississippi is privately owned.

In 2003, Senator Thad Cochran warned: “Canada subsidizes its lumber mills by subsidizing the cost of stumpage price for pine timber, and those mills are dumping lumber in our domestic market.”

The issue remains the same today.

Most of the timber in Canada is owned by their government. The various provinces set the price at the stump. Most are significantly lower than the price paid here to private landowners.

The United States sets a countervailing tariff on Canadian timber. The additional charge varies by species from 14.52% to 16.15%. This is how much the U.S. Department of Commerce says is the difference in the Canadian provinces giving a lower stumpage cost compared to our private Mississippi sales.

There are other factors such as hauling distances, but generally the cost of delivering a 2-by-4 to a Mississippi dealer is cheaper for Canadian timber than if we harvested it right here.

When I was Secretary of State, I joined Shuqualak Lumber Company and other Mississippi timber mill operators in contesting the “dumping” of Canadian timber.

Our 16th Section land, all of which the proceeds goes to public schools, owns hundreds of thousands of acres of timber.

This issue continues today to be challenged in various courts. The United States imposed an additional 10% tariff beginning on October 14, 2025, citing the need to protect our domestic timber industry and national security. 

Mississippi produces about $600 million of timber every year. The downward pressure on Mississippi timber prices varies but is estimated to be between $30 million and $50 million per year. 

That is why Senator Cochran was right. And we need to support a final resolution by President Trump which provides us a fair ability to compete with this valuable Mississippi commodity.