In its last decision before the government shutdown, the International Trade Commission (ITC) declined to reverse its November 2011 decision to impose a dumping order on Chinese engineered wood flooring.
Following a petition from the Coalition for American Hardwood Parity sent in October 2010, the ITC determined that Chinese flooring manufacturers were materially injuring their U.S. counterparts by selling products at less than their fair value, known as "dumping." The U.S. Department of Commerce then assigned antidumping and countervailing duties to Chinese exporters.
The Alliance for Free Choice and Jobs in Flooring (AFCJF) appealed the decisions. As a result, in April the Court of International Trade remanded the antidumping case against Chinese producers of engineered wood flooring back to the ITC, citing insufficient economic analysis and an incomplete review of the domestic economic injury.
Jonathan Train, president of the AFCJF, expressed his disappointment in the ITC's refusal to change its decision, stating, "In April the Alliance won our appeal to the Court of International Trade. The Court agreed that the ITC had not considered all the facts when placing the dumping order on the industry. They told the ITC to review the case again, but of course no one likes to being told they were wrong. While the ITC did not change their position, we at the Alliance believe that they are still missing some key points. We are confident that the Court will agree and send it back to the ITC to review again."
Train continued, "We are of course disappointed, but not surprised by the decision. The Court has an option of not accepting this decision by the ITC. As we feel that our issues were not well or fully addressed here, we expect the Court to remand the case once again. This is one more step in the process and our Alliance remains determined to see the process through to the proper conclusion."
