Hard Times: New England Hardwood Industry Struggles Amid Trump’s Trade War
Oak boards being inspected before being sorted at Allard Lumber in Brattleboro, VT. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Trevor AllardĀ stands in the sawmill’s observation deck at Allard Lumber with his sales manager, looking down on a dusty expanse of grinding saw blades and conveyor belts.
Allard’s father co-founded the company, in Brattleboro, Vermont, nearly 50 years ago. It’s located where Trevor’s grandfather once farmed the land.
“Way back, before the highway,” Allard says.
The company manufactures high-grade hardwood boards from the forests of New England and upstate New York. It employs about 50 people, part of an industry that tends to be made up of small, family-run operations, but together employsĀ tens of thousands of people in New England and nearly 700,000 across the country.
And it’s an industry that’s been hit hard by President Trump’s trade war with China.
Read the rest of the story at WBUR’s website.