Commission Ruling Baffles Timber Industry

A coalition of six US plywood companies has until mid-February to decide whether to keep up the legal fight to have federal regulators step in and put a stop to what the coalition calls unfair Chinese “dumping” on the domestic plywood market. The Coalition for Fair Trade of Hardwood Plywood filed its petition with the US International Trade Commission last year, but the ITC voted to stay out of the squabble.
US regulators define dumping as a foreign company selling a product in the states at “less than its fair value.” The ITC ruled that domestic plywood suppliers are seeing enough growth in demand to offset any threat from Chinese imports. The commission did agree the production of the plywood is subsidized by the Chinese government and sold at “less than fair value,” but the ITC refused to step in. Read more HERE.