More than 1.5 million cubic metres of hardwood and decorative plywood imported into the United States from Vietnam, Indonesia and China will now face much steeper duties, after the U.S. Department of Commerce sided with local producers in one of its most consequential rulings in recent years.
And in a major escalation, Commerce also determined that “critical circumstances” exist for Chinese imports, meaning that U.S. Customs and Border Protection will apply the duties retroactively to shipments that entered ports up to 90 days before the January 16 ruling. In effect, this means that Chinese plywood traded through ports in the lead-up to Christmas is now subject to a duty rate of more than 80% of the retail price.
“The domestic hardwood and decorative plywood industry has been harmed for decades by unfairly traded imports from China, Indonesia and Vietnam,” according to Timothy Brightbill, the lead counsel for the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood, whose members include Columbia Forest Products, Commonwealth Plywood, Manthei Wood Products, States Industries and Timber Products Company. “Commerce’s decision is another critical step in levelling the playing field for American manufacturers.”
Timothy C. Brightbill is part of a team that includes International Trade partner Stephanie M. Bell, of counsel Jeffrey O. Frank; and associates Stephen A. Morrison and Jacob Garten who represented the U.S. suppy chain for hardwood plywood in the case.
The preliminary findings were released late last week, confirming that producers in all three countries – which supply the vast majority of decorative plywood entering the U.S. market – received highly favourable government subsidies that gave them an unfair advantage over domestic manufacturers. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is expected to begin collecting duties in the coming weeks once the determination is formally published in the Federal Register.
US Department of Commerce wants to crack down on plywood imports
The increases are substantial. Wood Central understands that Chinese exporters, responsible for more than 154,516 cubic metres of hardwood and decorative plywood in 2024, have been assigned a uniform 81.34 per cent duty rate, applied to every named producer and the “all others” category. Commerce said the figure was based on “facts available with adverse inferences,” a method used when foreign governments do not fully cooperate with investigators.
Indonesian producers received a wide range of rates, from 2.40 per cent for PT Sengon Indah Mas to 128.66 per cent for PT Mustika Buana Sejahtera. Vietnam’s rates ranged from 4.37 per cent for Trieu Thai Son Ltd to 26.75 per cent for Junma Phu Tho Co., with an all-others rate of 15.56 per cent. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the United States imported 154,516 cubic metres of hardwood and decorative plywood from China in 2024, 787,821 cubic metres from Indonesia, and 828,767 cubic metres from Vietnam.
The investigation will continue in the coming months, including examination of newly alleged subsidy programs in all three countries. A final determination is scheduled for May 12, 2026, unless extended. At the same time, the Department is conducting parallel antidumping investigations, with preliminary dumping margins expected in late February.
