The Federal Trade Commission, or whatever alphabet soup agency is driving this bus, proceeded to authorize the formal investigation and imposition of two kinds of import duties on Chinese engineered wood flooring. If the intent was to stop the importation of subsidized flooring, it looks to be a failure already.
If I understand this situation properly - and who knows if anyone understands this situation properly? - imports from China after February or March, the date being not specific, will carry the import duties. Imports prior to that date come in at current rates (that is, duty-free).
So, importers and Chinese manufacturers defending their massive market share in the U.S. have until February or March to do whatever they're going to do. And what would that be? BUILD INVENTORY, of course! This office hears talk of hundreds, if not thousands, of containers of Chinese engineered flooring being prepared for shipment to North America, immediately. The thinking goes, so I'm told, that one year's worth of inventory stashed in the U.S. will protect the business while alternate factories are being set up in Vietnam, Malaysia, and/or Indonesia. These alternate countries already have flooring production infrastructure, and are not threatened with U.S. import duties.
So what's been accomplished? Besides severely annoying the Chinese govenment and some large American enterprises, it's probably not hard to conclude that cheap flooring not only has not been eliminated, but is probably here to stay, from many now-diversified Asian sources. Good news for many, including for Indochina and Southeast Asia producers, and for low-priced, deal-seeking American property owners; not so good news for the coalition of companies that brought the action to begin with, and all other domestic parties facing international competition for the scarce wood flooring buyer.
Well then, how about some more positive, and somewhat related news? We closed a deal to provide U.S.-produced custom wood flooring to a project in China... too bad it's not thousands of containers, or else we could claim to have single-handedly offset the apparent bungling of this trade action.
At least, we've deposited some yuan in our account at Bank of America...and we appreciate the business!
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