Antidumping Duty Announced

Federal Government Duty Announcement Finds No Dumping But

Applies Duties to Chinese Imported Hardwood Plywood Market

Anyway

Protectionist Campaign is a Lose-Lose for Global Marketplace,

U.S. Manufacturers and Jobs

Portland, OR

– A protectionist campaign initiated by a handful of domestic

companies has resulted in U.S. manufacturers being hit with more duties on

imported Chinese hardwood plywood even after the U.S. government found that

all individually-investigated exporters did not engage in “dumping” (unfair

pricing). Hardwood plywood is a vital component of the wood products supply

chain and the broad range of industries that rely on it. As part of its ongoing

investigation of Chinese hardwood plywood market practices, the U.S.

Department of Commerce announced a preliminary antidumping duty of zero

percent on all Chinese exporters who were individually examined. However,

Commerce refused to apply a zero percent to the remaining exporters who

were fully cooperative. Instead, Commerce used an average that included a

penalty duty normally reserved for non-cooperative companies. The resulting

average duty, 22.14 percent, applies this penalty to U.S. manufacturers’

purchases of hardwood plywood from these fully cooperative exporters.

The Commerce Department took a similar path in the countervailing duty

investigation that examined whether the Chinese government conferred illegal

subsidies on exports of hardwood plywood. After finding that all three

investigated companies received no subsidies, Commerce applied a penalty

duty to the rest of the exporting industry.