WASHINGTON, DC – The Coalition for Fair Trade of Hardwood Plywood (CFTHP) filed a complaint against the United States in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

The complaint, which follows a related request last month for a summons, seeks judicial review of the decision of the International Trade Commission decision in the anti-dumping and countervailing duty decision of hardwood plywood from China. The complaint alleges the decision was not supported by substantial evidence on the record or in accordance with the law.

A hot debate, pitting U.S. hardwood plywood makers versus hardwood plywood importers, has raged since the trade case was first filed in September 2012 by the CFTHP. The CFTHP, which includes Columbia Forest Products, Timber Products and others, argued that Chinese hardwood plywood was being unfairly subsidized by the Chinese government and sold at less than fair value in the U.S.

Determinations on several points are raised in the complaint:

• substitutability of Chinese and U.S. plywood
• price depression from Chinese imports
• severe economic harm to the U.S. plywood
• illegally sourced wood in Chinese products are 

“Troubling to the U.S. industry is that the final determination by the Department of Commerce that these Chinese plywood products were dumped into the U.S. at the range of 55.76% to 121.65% and had no impact on the U.S. industry to compete fairly according to the ITC,” notes Jeff Levin, counsel to the U.S. producers coalition. The complaint asks the Court to remand the decision back to the ITC for reconsideration.