Hardwood Floors Oct/Nov 2019

By Jennifer Zimmerman

There are three major types of duties or tariffs currently applied to wood flooring in the U.S.:

Both TARIFFS and DUTIES are forms of taxes

imposed by the government on goods that are imported from another country.

Standard Customs Duty (0-8%) Usually 0 to 8 percent for Chinese engineered wood imports (species and structure-dependent) This duty is meant to support U.S.-based businesses by charging a premium on products manufactured internationally. The typical range is 0 to 8 percent for engineered wood imported fromChina and varies by species and structure. Most plywood engineered flooring has an 8 percent standard customs duty. China Import Tariff (30%) This is the recently announced additional 30 percent tariff for flooring items imported fromChina. Virtually all types of flooring manufactured in China, resilient and wood alike, are impacted by this tariff. Anti-Dumping Duty Rate (42.57%) Announced July 30, 2019 • There are a lot of complexities to the concept of “dumping,” but in essence, this occurs when the U.S. Government determines that manufacturers in a particular country are loading inventory into the U.S. at unfair low costs. This is the case with wood flooring imported fromChina categorized as MLWF. • A new antidumping duty final rate for certain MLWF imports fromChina was announced July 30. With the exception of a few manufacturers, the deposit rate for MLWF products imported from China of 42.57 percent started the beginning of August and will continue until a new rate is announced in mid-2020. In addition, importers of record will be responsible for paying a retroactive rate of this same amount on product that cleared Customs fromDec. 1, 2016 through Nov. 30, 2017. Products from Sino-Maple will have a rate of 83.15 percent during this same time period. • E ven if you are not an importer of record, you can expect a healthy increase to the MLWF products you purchase. • The rate for the past two years has been zero, so this duty may be off your radar.

What Can You Do to Protect Your Business? You have taken the first step in

protecting your business by getting up to speed on current tariffs and duties. Next, you should carefully review your portfolio for wood flooring products likely to receive the antidumping duty increase. Finally, discuss with your sales contacts or manufacturers what alternatives are available to you. In addition to stocking domestically produced wood flooring products, retailers can consider engineered wood products sourced from countries other than China. g

Jennifer Zimmerman, Esquire, is General Counsel of AHF Products based in Mountville, Pennsylvania. Jennifer has worked as an in-house attorney in the flooring industry for more than a decade and has significant experience with global trade and regulatory matters related to floor coverings. She holds a J.D from Widener University School of Law and a B.A. from George Washington University.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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