Raw exotic lumber avoids tariffs, still faces hurdles
Tariffs have not impacted raw exotic lumber, but challenges remain in sourcing exotic species due to scarcity and regulatory measures. Zebrawood and yellowheart are particularly difficult to source, with zebrawood facing a global shortage and yellowheart impacted by a Brazilian export ban.
Recent tariff discussions have caused a great deal of consumer confusion, and for woodworkers, the impact on raw lumber is naturally a concern. Exotic species in their raw form have so far avoided tariff impact, according to vendors interviewed by Woodshop News.
But several challenges still affect supply of exotic species in the U.S. market. For starters, many exotic woods are scarce to begin with. Secondly, domestic and foreign regulatory measures for sustainable sourcing are expanding, which has further impacted availability. Third, even with no tariffs on raw exotics, those exotics that have gone through a manufacturing process are facing tariffs.
“Everybody’s confused, but we didn’t get hit by tariffs on raw lumber,” says Fabs Corte of Cormark International, a retailer of exotics and domestics in Weaverville, N.C. “If they’re importing a finished product or something like that, there may be. It’s so confusing at the moment because tariffs are country-specific, product-specific, under a harmonized tariff code. The rate of the tariff can change from one country to the next, from one minute to the next.”
“People are confused about the tariffs, generally,” says Dave Norman of Parkerville Wood Products in Manchester, Conn. “It’s still very confusing to figure out what’s tariffed and what’s not, until we see an invoice that says it, which for the most part, most of our products are not being tariffed. I’m not sure I’ve seen it on any of the woods yet.”
Zebrawood and yellowheart rank amongst the most challenging exotics to source, according to Corte. Yellowheart has been an issue since 2019, when Brazil imposed a ban on exports. Zebrawood has been hard to find in the same timeframe due to a global shortage.
“There’s a demand for zebrawood and it’s not out there. We have a small shipment and have to kiln dry it. We have to limit how much we release out there because we could quite easily sell it all to one person. We have high expectations that every year we’re going to find more than the year before, and every year we seem to get less zebrawood,” says Corte.
“The exotic world is funny,” Norman added. “You can talk to different vendors and it’s always different who has what. For example, cocobolo, the last couple of years we’ve had nothing on it. All of a sudden, we got a call from a private guy that builds hand planes and tools, and we bought a pickup load of it that will probably last two or three years. That’s the way the exotic industry works.”
Originally published in the December 2025 issue of Woodshop News.
