DHA eNews - Canadian Tribunal Finds That Chinese Plywood Harms Industry
On August 10, in an important first step in the case for domestic producers, the Canada International Trade Tribunal made a positive preliminary injury determination regarding decorative and other non-structural plywood imported from China. If the Canada Border Services Agency issues a preliminary determination of dumping and subsidizing, provisional duties will go into effect beginning September 9. In exceptional circumstances, the Special Import Measures Act allows antidumping duties to be imposed retroactively.
The Commerce Department has issued preliminary antidumping determinations on wood moulding and millwork from China, imposing dumping duties of 40% to 360%. The Brazil investigation, however, resulted in a negative preliminary finding that attorney Tim Brightbill called "unexpected and disappointing" and "not reflective of realities in the marketplace."
Recent stories about our industry include:
- Sales of high-end second homes and vacation homes surge
- NAHB seeks White House action to address soaring lumber prices
For more information, updates, and the latest event changes and cancelations, see the DHA coronavirus news and resources pages.
ANSI announced that the five-year revisions to ANSI/HPVA EF 2020 have been approved, as were the updates to ANSI/HPVA HP-1 2020. Print and PDF editions will be available soon on the Decorative Hardwoods Association website.
New online grading workshops from Decorative Hardwoods Association will be available after Labor Day. There are four online sessions: Basics, Specifics, Standards, and Grades.
The BSR notice has been filed to begin the five-year update of the American National Standard for Due Diligence in Procuring/Sourcing Legal Timber, ANS LTDD 1.0 2015.
The experts at Capital Testing (formerly HPVA Laboratories®) are offering a discount for eNews subscribers and website visitors: 10% off any fire or physical testing services. See the Capital Testing website for the promotional code and details.
The Japanese woolly adelgid has killed off nearly all eastern hemlocks in the Southeast. Along Virginia's Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park, 95% of the hemlocks are dead - some of which were up to 500 years old. A Brandeis University group is trying desperately to stop the devastation, sometimes protecting one tree at a time, as the pest moves north due to the warming climate.
Source: Brandeis
The emerald ash borer has now infested nearly all of the eastern U.S. states and Canadian provinces. The pest has been spotted in another 15 U.S. counties since July 1.
In Germany, rising temperatures and droughts have made trees more vulnerable to attacks by bark beetles and other insects. Foresters removed about 1,130 million cubic feet of wood damaged by insects from Germany's forests last year, nearly three times the amount destroyed the year before.
Canada has become the world leader in forest certification with about 415 million acres certified. The country has three certification programs: the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and several standards endorsed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Wildfires are spreading quickly in North America: the Mosier Creek Fire in central Oregon, the Pine Gulch and Grizzly Creek fires in Colorado, and the Lake Fire in California's Los Angeles County, where more than 100 homes were evacuated.
Meet some of the women leading the fight against forest fires. They plan and manage prescribed fires, lead hotshot crews, and rappel from helicopters into remote areas to battle flames.
A new study by researchers at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site shows that climate change has increased forests' productivity. The study of carbon observations collected over 25 years reveals that the rate at which carbon is captured from the atmosphere nearly doubled between 1992 and 2015.
Because it is the most abundant hardwood species, the American red oak is also one of the most sustainable. It takes only 1.04 seconds to grow one cubic meter of red oak thanks to the immense volume of red oak trees in U.S. forests.
Activists say the Forest Stewardship Council has failed to properly investigate reports of alleged deforestation by two companies that are linked to Indonesia's wealthiest person, who controls these companies directly or indirectly. The cigarette and banking billionaire in question established his wealth through the Djarum tobacco company.