DHA eNews - Vietnam Vows To Strengthen Timber Laws To Avoid U.S. Tariffs
To avoid the threat of punitive U.S. tariffs - due to allegations that Vietnam is importing illegal timber - Vietnam has promised to strengthen regulations and to buy more American lumber. The U.S. is the largest market for Vietnamese wood products, worth an estimated $6.5 billion in 2020.
Photo © DUYBOX, 123RF.com
In the waning days of the Trump administration, the U.S. Trade Representative has published its final determination: that Vietnam manipulates its currency, providing trade advantages.
U.S. Customs is investigating BGI Group (trade name: U.S. Cabinet Depot) for allegedly evading antidumping and countervailing duties on wooden cabinets and vanities imported from China. The company is said to transship cabinetry through Cambodia and then falsely designate Cambodia as the country of origin.
The U.S. Department of Commerce rescinded a request to review Chinese wooden bedroom furniture manufacturer Kunshan Jujia Decoration Design Co., which means the company will retain a duty of 216.01%. This duty is applied to manufacturers but paid by the U.S. importers of record.
In January, the UK began its new Global Tariff regime, which closely mirrors current EU tariffs. The primary difference: the UK regime lowers tariffs on imports of a range of products, including some wood products.
Per the 2021 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, the use of hardwood flooring in kitchen renovations fell 6% in 2020 to 23%. The popularity of vinyl flooring grew 6%, with home owners choosing vinyl or resilient flooring in 19% of kitchen renovations.
Innovations related to engineered wood panels have soared. Just one of these trends is the use of and interest in anti-microbial products - likely prompted by the pandemic.
Recent updates about how the pandemic is affecting our industry include:
- Could spiking COVID-19 numbers derail home construction?
- Consumer confidence in housing falls as COVID-19 surges
- Ontario wood product manufacturers are eligible for COVID-19 safety funds
- Omega Cabinetry employees express concerns about COVID-19 safety
- Still more COVID-19 humor
For more details, see the DHA coronavirus news and resources pages.
Michel Tremblay, who served as executive vice president of the Canadian Hardwood Plywood and Veneer Association from 2004 to 2009, passed away on January 5.
Furniture Today's editors share insights about key issues for retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers in 2021.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has stopped fighting the emerald ash borer, the pest that has destroyed ash trees across 35 states. Beginning January 14, USDA will no longer regulate the movement of ash trees or borer-infested trees.
The Center for Biological Diversity claims that the Trump administration failed to make progress on protecting the northern spotted owl under the Endangered Species Act. The filing states that Interior Secretary Bernhardt unlawfully delayed protection for the owl, monarch butterfly, and nine other species.
Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory believe that rising temperatures are causing trees to stay smaller. The taller the tree, the more energy it needs to obtain water. Rising temperatures are a source of stress in trees.
In December 2018, a revolutionary program in DR Congo gave ownership of 4,100 hectares of forest to the 300 residents of Nkala. Now, it looks like community ownership could become a powerful tool to stop the decline of the Congo Basin rainforest.
A new study reports that more than 160,000 square miles, an area about the size of California, was lost to deforestation from 2004 to 2017. The World Wildlife Fund study, Deforestation Fronts: Drivers and Responses in a Changing World, shows that Australia is the only developed nation on WWF's list of deforestation hotspots.
Deforestation dropped by 18% over two years in African countries where organizations subscribed to a service that used satellites to detect decreases in forest cover and send alerts. The study included 22 tropical countries in South America, Africa, and Asia.
On December 23, a district court in the far eastern region of Russia dismissed the case against Alexander Pudovkin, the head of timber conglomerate BM Group. The preliminary hearing was said to have been closed to the media. The timber tycoon was a key player in one of Russia's largest illegal logging scandals.