Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced affirmative final antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) circumvention rulings involving exports of hardwood plywood products from China, finding that hardwood and decorative plywood with veneers made of certain types of softwood (radiata and/or agathis pine) circumvent existing orders.

Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to continue to collect AD and CVD cash deposits on certain imports of hardwood plywood products produced with face and back veneers of radiata and/or agathis pine. These duties will be imposed on future imports, and on any unliquidated entries since September 18, 2018, the date on which Commerce initiated this circumvention inquiry.

The applicable cash deposits range from 171.55 to 183.36 percent for the AD orders, and 22.98 to 194.90 percent for the CVD orders.

U.S. law provides that Commerce may find circumvention of AD/CVD orders when it is alleged that later-developed merchandise may be covered by an existing order.

In 2018, the value of imports of hardwood plywood from China were valued at an estimated $96 million.

This circumvention inquiry was conducted pursuant to a request from the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood, which includes Columbia Forest Products (Greensboro, NC), Commonwealth Plywood, Inc. (Whitehall, NY), States Industries, Inc. (Eugene, OR), and Timber Products Company (Springfield, OR).

The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump Administration. To date, the Trump Administration has issued 31 preliminary or final affirmative determinations in anti-circumvention inquiries – a 182 percent increase from the number of such determinations made during the comparable period in the previous administration.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade law and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international rules and is based on factual evidence provided on the record.