The U.S. Department of Commerce is currently deliberating whether to enact import duties on engineered wood flooring from China, and there are some in the industry who are already anticipating a similar case against solid wood flooring in the future.

One person is Swiff-Train Co.’s Jonathan Train, who is president of the Alliance for Free Choice and Jobs in Flooring (AFCJF). His group opposes any import duties since it will essentially increase his costs for doing business. Among AFCJF members, there is a “conviction that unless the petitioners are stopped here and now in this case, they will move forward to block other types of flooringincluding solids and laminatesand file additional cases to block imports from other international suppliers, with the goal of wiping out their American competitors,” Train said in a press release.

And that conviction is not unfounded.

William Perry is counsel for the petitioners, the Coalition for American Hardwood Parity. Anticipating a surge in solid wood flooring imports from China after a final ruling in favor of his clients, he said in an e-mail that they would have an incentive to “file a new case to catch a wider product.”

But a final ruling in favor of the CAHP is still not a certainty. In March, DOC determined a preliminary countervailing dutywhich is enacted to offset foreign government subsidies for productsand it was lower than many expected at 2.25 percent for the lion’s share of imported engineered wood flooring. There are still several rounds of determinations, research and review before DOC reaches a final decision in the matter. If that decision is “negative,” then there will be no additional import duties assigned to engineered wood flooring from China.

According to Train, support of his group is increasing. During the National Wood Flooring Association’s (NWFA) Wood Flooring Convention and Expo last week, 20 more companies joined the group; the group now has more than 50 member companies, representing about 1,400 wood flooring industry jobs.

The CAHP consists of manufacturers Anderson Hardwood Floors (Clinton, S.C), Award Hardwood Floors LLP (Wausau, Wis.), Baker’s Creek (Jackson, Miss.), From the Forest LLC (Weston, Wis.), Howell Hardwood Flooring (Dothan, Ala.), Mannington Wood Floors (Salem, N.J.), Nydree Flooring (Forest, Va.) and Shaw Industries Inc. (Dalton, Ga.).

Article source: http://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/editors/blog/default.aspx?id=406&t=The-Next-China-Trade-Case-Solid-Wood-Fl