NEWS

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for comments as it conducts its four-year review of Chinese imports, to determine the effects of Chinese goods on U.S. workers, small businesses, manufacturing, critical supply chains, technological leadership, and possible tariff inversions. We encourage you to participate. The comment period ends on January 17. To submit comments, go to https://comments.ustr.gov/s/.

In December, the U.S. International Trade Commission and Department of Commerce began their five-year sunset review of the antidumping and countervailing duties currently in place on hardwood plywood and engineered wood flooring from China.

Decorative Hardwoods Association (formerly HPVA) eNews Volume XV, Issue XXIV: Legislators Push For Commonsense Regulation | Global Financial Firm Moves Into Forest Carbon-Offset Market | EU Agrees On Law To Fight Deforestation | 

As reported in our last eNews, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently reclassified the northern long-eared bat as an endangered species. Last week, more than 20 members of Congress, including the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, officially requested that no funds be allocated to enable the reclassification of the bat from threatened to endangered.

Another investment firm will be entering the carbon-offset market with the likely goal of reducing timber harvests. Manulife, the largest timberland investment management organization in the world, will raise a $500 million fund for this project. Manulife already manages about 6 million acres of forestland.

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