U.S. Department of Commerce Preliminarily Finds Dumping of Wood Mouldings and Millwork Products from China; Issues Negative Preliminary Determination for Brazil

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced an affirmative preliminary determination in the antidumping duty (“AD”) investigation of imports of wood mouldings and millwork products from China, and a negative preliminary determination in the AD investigation of imports of wood mouldings and millwork products from Brazil.

Commerce preliminarily determined that exporters from China have dumped wood mouldings and millwork products in the United States at margins ranging from 40.30 percent to 359.16 percent.

As a result, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to collect cash deposits from importers of wood mouldings and millwork products from China based on the preliminary rates noted above. Commerce will not instruct CBP to require cash deposits from importers of wood mouldings and millwork products from Brazil.

The petitioner is the Coalition of American Millwork Producers, whose members are Bright Wood Corporation (Madras, Ore.), Cascade Wood Products, Inc. (White City, Ore.), Endura Products, Inc. (Colfax, N.C.), Sierra Pacific Industries (Red Bluff, Calif.), Sunset Moulding (Live Oak, Calif.), Woodgrain Millwork, Inc. (Fruitland, Idaho), and Yuba River Moulding (Yuba City, Calif.).

Commerce is scheduled to announce its final determinations in these cases on or about December 19.

If Commerce’s final determinations are affirmative, the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) will be scheduled to make its final injury determinations on or about February 1, 2021. If Commerce makes affirmative final determinations of dumping and the ITC makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue AD orders. If Commerce makes a negative final determination of dumping or the ITC makes a negative final determination of injury, the investigation will be terminated and no order will be issued.

In 2019, imports of wood mouldings and millwork products from Brazil and China were valued at an estimated $315 million and $193 million, respectively.

Read the fact sheet on today’s decisions.

The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump administration. Since the beginning of the current administration, Commerce has initiated 281 new AD and countervailing duty (“CVD”) investigations – a 260 percent increase from the comparable period in the previous administration.

The antidumping duty law provides American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 531 AD and CVD orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

Foreign companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to antidumping duties.

Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade laws and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international rules and is based solely on facts submitted to the public record.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce