U.S. Plans to Impose Duties On Chinese Flooring

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday that it plans to impose countervailing duties on wood-flooring imports from China, citing evidence that Beijing provided unfair subsidies to local producers.

The latest in a series of trade investigations against Chinese companies has pitted U.S. flooring producers against domestic distributors that benefit from the imports.

Eight U.S. flooring makers sought relief from the imports in October, claiming they were being unfairly subsidized and dumped, or sold below fair value. Among the companies in favor of the tariffs is Shaw Industries, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Lumber Liquidators Inc., which operates a chain of flooring stores, has opposed the duties.

The Commerce Department set preliminary duty rates of as much as 27.01% on the "multi-layered" flooring imports. The U.S. International Trade Commission found in December that imports from China had climbed 17% during the first nine months of last year, increasing the share of the U.S. market to 47% from 43% the year before.

The department is still reviewing the dumping charges, with an announcement expected in mid-May.

Before the countervailing duties can go into effect, the Commerce Department must make a final decision and the International Trade Commission would have to find that producers are being harmed by the imports.

By Tom Barkley

Source: The Wall Street Journal