A writer at The Motley Fool, a financial services media company, is saying investors "need to watch" the wood flooring industry. As the engineered wood flooring antidumping and countervailing duties investigation shapes up, it's becoming clear there will be winners and losers, writes Jacob Roche.
Roche identifies Armstrong World Industries (Lancaster, Pa.) as a possible winner, even though it is not one of the companies petitioning the U.S. Department of Commerce to enact the antidumping and countervailing duties on engineered wood flooring from China. If duties are enacted, Armstrong "will see a big boost in demand if higher import prices force customers to buy American," Roche writes.
But on the flip side, Roche thinks there's reason for Lumber Liquidators-which opposes any duties-to worry. Management for the retailer says an unfavorable investigation outcome could affect 7-9% of its sales. "Whether or not Lumber Liquidators makes it through this crisis in the long run," Roche writes, "it's bound to be a headache for the business in the near term."
