DHA eNews - Expect Countervailing Duties On Kitchen Cabinets
The American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance is ramping up the pressure on the U.S. government to act to address unfair Chinese trade practices. The Department of Commerce will decide by August 5 on preliminary countervailing duty rates to offset Chinese government subsidies. The AKCA says China's unfair practices are hurting 250,000 jobs in the U.S. cabinet industry.
Unsold logs from New Zealand are stacking up at Chinese ports as buyers import cheap, sawn timber from Russia and Scandinavia by train. New Zealand woodlot owners are looking at other outlets, including using logs as fuel.
A survey of 200 manufacturers in Wisconsin reports that Chinese tariffs are hurting business. Even so, 67% of those surveyed support the tariffs - and fair trade.
In 2018, China exported nearly $13.5 billion in wood furniture, down 2% from the year before. The U.S. remains China's number one customer for wood furniture, accounting for 42% of exports. Hong Kong is a distant second at 6%.
While Chinese global investment spending is strong, the country has not invested heavily in the U.S. since early 2017. China has never invested much in "Belt and Road," a Chinese strategy promoting infrastructure development in other countries.
Vietnam exported $2.3 billion in wood products in the first quarter of 2019, about 16% higher than last year.
In December, IKEA will close its only U.S. plant in Danville, VA, due to the high cost of raw materials. Closing the plant, which produces shelving and living room storage units, will eliminate about 300 jobs. Production will be moved to Europe.
Andrew Honzel passed away on June 18 in Lake Oswego, OR. He was 88.
Andy was a much-admired member of our community. He led the growth of Columbia Forest Products from a single plant to become the largest producer of hardwood plywood and veneer in North America. He will be missed.
Last week, Decorative Hardwoods Association president Kip Howlett talked through the latest issues in international trade at AWFS. For a copy of his presentation, go to decorativehardwoods.org.
After leaving Armstrong Flooring, wood product scientist and former Decorative Hardwoods Association board chair Dr. Brian Beakler formed a wood science consulting firm, which was recently featured in a Pennsylvania business journal.
More than 440 companies and organizations worldwide have removed misleading "go green – go paperless" messaging from their marketing materials. The majority of these are telecom providers, banks and financial institutions, utility companies, and government agencies.
More architects are choosing wood as a structural or finishing material in offices for its natural beauty as well as its practical benefits. Incorporating wood can enhance air quality, acoustics, and energy efficiency as well as an overall feeling of wellness from those who work in the space. These benefits are important to the average North American, who, research shows, spends about 90 percent of their time indoors.
Experts explain how hardwood trees mitigate the effects of extreme summer heat with some impressive coping mechanisms.
The Nature Conservancy and private investor partners now control approximately 400 square miles in the central Appalachian Mountains. Investors will see financial returns from the sales of sustainable timber, carbon offset credits, and eventually, the sale of the land - with sustainable management restrictions.
Development negatively affects wildlands by eating away at the edges or breaking large natural areas into smaller patches. From 1990 to 2010, the interface of wildlands with urban areas increased by nearly 200,000 square kilometers, an area larger than Washington State.
Total, a French oil company, announced that it would invest $100 million annually on forest preservation and reforestation projects because "the most effective way to eliminate carbon, for less than US$10 a ton, is reforestation." Between 1990 and 2015, EU countries have reforested an area the size of Portugal.
Source: The Economist
Satellite data shows that Brazil’s Amazon region lost more forest in May than in any other month over the past ten years. Land thieves are logging trees and then selling the cleared land to ranchers.