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In another big win for U.S. workers and the many DHA members in the American Manufacturers of Multilayered Wood Flooring coalition, last week the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that the existing duties on Chinese engineered wood flooring will remain in place for the next five years. This is a critical development for the industry, which has been fighting unfair imports from China for years. This comes about a month after a similar ruling on hardwood plywood.

Two weeks ago, we held our 2023 Annual Meeting in Clearwater, Florida. It was fantastic seeing many long-term and new members and hearing from expert speakers on issues key to our industry, including trade policy, new technology, and methods to identify Russian birch—which continues to fund the Russian war effort, despite restrictions. It was also a pleasure to recognize the commitment of our long-term members and those members who serve on the DHA leadership team. Please save the date for DHA’s 2024 Annual Meeting, May 14–16, in Scottsdale…

Last week, in a big win for U.S. workers and the many DHA members in the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood, the U.S. International Trade Commission decided that the existing duties on Chinese hardwood plywood will remain in place for the next five years. This is a critical development for the industry that has been fighting unfair imports from China for years. It also underlies circumvention cases against Vietnam, where a final ruling is expected later this month.

This week, the Commerce Department extended its deadline again in the Vietnam hardwood plywood circumvention case. The new deadline is May 26. Last July, Commerce released a preliminary ruling that hardwood plywood from Vietnam was circumventing the duties on Chinese hardwood plywood and thus was subject to those duties.

Imports of hardwood plywood and multilayered wood flooring are still slower than last year's frantic pace. This slowdown is across nearly all countries, suggesting importers are working off high inventories.