An investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department has determined that a significant amount of hardwood plywood assembled and exported in Vietnam is sourced from China—and is circumventing U.S. duties.
The Commerce Department’s investigation into potential circumvention of duties, published July 29, found that hardwood plywood composed of face/back veneers and individual core veneers was being sourced from China and assembled in Vietnam for export to the U.S. and should be subject to antidumping and countervailing duties, some as high as 200%.
Manufacturers of hardwood plywood from Vietnam using non-Chinese origin hardwood plywood inputs will be permitted to certify that their products were not sourced from China.
The Commerce Department identified 36 companies in Vietnam that failed to fully cooperate during the investigation. An analysis by the Coalition for Fair Trade of Hardwood Plywood found that duties could impact up to 60% of hardwood plywood imported from Vietnam.
Vietnam recently surpassed China as the leading source of U.S. engineered wood flooring imports.
