NEWS

Roseburg Forest Products has laid off 90 employees, about one quarter of the staff, at its Dillard, OR plant due to continued unfavorable conditions in the North American plywood market.

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The U.S. Department of Commerce has levied countervailing duties on Chinese-made ready-to-assemble cabinets. Commerce preliminarily calculated subsidy rates of between 10.97 and 21.78 percent for four Chinese producers, 229.24 percent for Chinese producers who failed to cooperate with the investigation, and a 16.41 percent "all others" rate for most Chinese producers who cooperated with the investigation.

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The U.S. Trade Representative directed Customs & Border Protection to block future timber from a specific Peruvian exporter because of suspected illegal logging. Two Global Forestry Investments directors were charged with conspiracy to defraud and forgery, related to a scheme to promote investing in teak forests in Brazil.

Fraud and misrepresentation in forest supply chains are pervasive in the U.S., the world's largest importer of wood and wood furniture. Expert analysis of consumer products acquired from major U.S. retailers showed that 62% of tested products featured one or more fraudulent or misrepresented claims.

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The antidumping rates for Chinese engineered wood flooring imports have increased significantly for nearly all Chinese producers, who were previously paying zero antidumping duties. Now, as a result of the Commerce Department's final determinations, the antidumping duty margins have increased to 85.13% as a countrywide rate for 46 companies and a separate rate of 42.57% for 59 specific companies. These rates were announced by the Commerce Department this week.