DeFazio Applauds House Passage of Legislation to Spur Economic Development and Job Creation in Oregon Communities
Reps. Peter DeFazio (OR-04) and Greg Walden (OR-02) applaud the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) final 4-0 vote confirming that the U.S. hardwood plywood industry has been, or is threatened to be, materially injured by unfairly subsidized Chinese imports.
The ruling will activate final antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese hardwood plywood imports as determined by the Department of Commerce earlier this year. The application of these duties will provide much-needed relief to Oregon mills.
“For too long, hardwood plywood mills in Oregon have suffered from the unfair trade practices China has used to corner this vital market and threaten family-wage jobs in our state,” said Reps. DeFazio and Walden. “Today’s announcement by the ITC is welcome news that will protect U.S. timber jobs and sends the clear signal that using illegal trade practices to hurt American companies, cost American jobs, and harm our timber-dependent communities is unacceptable. We applaud the thorough investigation conducted by the Department of Commerce into this matter and the ITC’s subsequent affirmative ruling, and will continue to work together to protect manufacturing jobs in Oregon and throughout the United States.”
“Our company, as members of the Coalition for Fair Trade of Hardwood Plywood, is pleased with the results of this ruling,” said Joe Gonyea, III, Co-Chair of the Board for Timber Products. “This strong ruling publicly reinforces what we have known for years about unfair Chinese subsidies and dumping of inferior products into the U.S. Market. We are greatly appreciative of the bipartisan support from our Oregon congressional delegation, led in the House of Representatives by Greg Walden and Peter DeFazio, throughout this effort.”
Last year the Coalition for Fair Trade of Hardwood Plywood, representing the U.S. hardwood plywood industry, filed a petition with the U.S. government seeking full enforcement of U.S. trade laws against China’s abusive trade practices. Last month, the Department of Commerce issued final determinations on antidumping duties of 183.6 percent and countervailing duties of up to 194.9 percent after completing an extensive investigation into China’s unfairly traded hardwood plywood imports. The ruling by the ITC will allow these duties to be fully enforced.
In October, Reps. DeFazio and Walden led a bipartisan letter to the ITC in support of an investigation into China’s illegal trade activity. Additionally, on October 26 Reps. DeFazio and Walden both testified before the ITC at their hearing on illegal Chinese hardwood plywood imports.
Chinese hardwood plywood imports increased 22 percent from 2014 to 2016 and another 26 percent during only the first half of 2017.
Oregon is the largest producer of hardwood plywood products in the United States.
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