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A group of distributors, retailers and importers has united to oppose the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of engineered wood flooring from China prompted last year by prominent U.S flooring manufacturers. The Alliance for Free Choice and Jobs in Flooring (AFCJF) was formed during Surfaces 2011, and the group directly opposes the mission of the Coalition for American Hardwood Parity (CAHP).
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1 of 4, AFCJF News Release 2-7-2011
www.choiceandjobs.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 7, 2011
CONTACTS:
Industry Issues: Jonathan Train, President, AFCJF, [email protected]
Legal Counsel: William Perry, Esq., [email protected]
American distributors and retailers form alliance to resist attempt by
some large US manufacturers to constrict flooring supply chain in case
pending before ITC and DOC
American flooring distributors, retailers and importers have formed the “Alliance for Free
Choice and Jobs in Flooring” (AFCJF) to resist an attempt by large U.S. manufacturers to
choke off imports of engineered hardwood flooring from China. According to AFCJF
President Jonathan Train, the Alliance was formed during the “Surfaces 2011” flooring
trade show, January 25-27, in Las Vegas.
The new group is actively opposing a petition filed by Mannington, Shaw and other U.S.
manufacturers of engineered hardwood flooring at the U.S. International Trade
Commission (ITC) and Commerce Department (DOC). The petitioners are asking that the
U.S. Government block imported flooring from China by imposing punitive tariffs of
237% or more. The Alliance is seeking to defeat the case by showing the U.S. ITC and
the DOC exactly why the petitioners' allegations lack merit.
Train says the Alliance consists of American-owned distributors, retailers, importers and
end users of engineered wood flooring as well as hardwood lumber exporters and other
affected U.S. companies in related industries. He said that “most of the American-owned
companies who will be victimized by the petitioners are small and medium-sized
businesses.”
Joe DuPree, a member of the AFCJF Board of Directors, says, “This petition is not so
much about China as it is about eliminating American independent distribution and
2 of 4, AFCJF News Release 2-7-2011
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private label programs. Mannington and Shaw are the two largest petitioners in this case
and the largest companies in the entire flooring market.. If they are successful in
restricting imports from China, and ultimately, from elsewhere around the world, it will
have the effect of driving the independents out of the market by cutting them off from
their source of supply. The real target of this case is not the Chinese, but the first stage of
a strategy to hobble the US companies that compete with the petitioners.”
Train agreed that “the real issue in this case is control of the flooring supply chain, which
the petitioners conceded in front of the ITC that they no longer control. They lost that all-
encompassing influence because the petitioners’ product ingenuity lagged far behind
foreign-produced materials in terms of construction and design options.”
He went on to say that “the lower sales volume of U.S. manufacturers that the petitioners
blame on imports from China is really attributable to the fact that the U.S. marketplace
demands regional product flexibility, and a broader variety of wood species, styles,
lengths and finishes other than the U.S. manufacturers offer their customers. The
independent American distributors and importers are delivering what the consumers
want, specific to their target markets. That’s just good entrepreneurial competition. The
petitioners prefer to characterize it as ‘unfair trade practices’ but the facts do not support
their view.”
Train noted that “We have formed this group so we can educate ourselves and others in
the industry on this complicated matter. Our primary goal is to see that no new duties are
placed on imports. We plan to make an aggressive legal defense at the ITC final and we
believe we have a strong chance to defeat the petition.”
Train continued to explain that the secondary objective of the Alliance is to “provide
information to the ITC and DOC about real world conditions that will help them see why
there shouldn’t be a high duty rate, if any at all.”
3 of 4, AFCJF News Release 2-7-2011
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The AFCJF feels that the two pronged response is necessary because the ITC and the
DOC approach these cases very differently. “In contrast to the ITC, which has found no
injury in a number of antidumping and countervailing duty cases against China, the
Commerce Department finds dumping in 90 to 95% of the antidumping cases and has
never reached a negative dumping determination in an antidumping case against China,"
Train said.
"At Commerce, therefore, the objective is to get as low antidumping and countervailing
duty rates as possible. At the start of this case, the Petitioners selected the specific sales
used to construct the 237% dumping margin in their petition. Now, however, Commerce
will look at sales of any and all types of wood flooring items and we are hopeful that with
AFCJF's participation in the case, the Commerce Department will apply the best
methodology and calculate the antidumping and countervailing duty rates as accurately as
possible. Therefore, if in the unfortunate event the ITC errs by allowing the duties to be
applied, we may end up with very low duty rates."
DuPree asserted that "looking at the bigger picture," the number of American jobs that
would be negatively affected if the petitioners win this case far exceeds the number of
factory workers employed by the petitioners.
“Besides that fact,” he said, “the rich irony is that at least one of the petitioners actually
admitted, on the record at the ITC hearing, that his company was employing prison labor.
U.S. law prohibits the import of any product manufactured by prison labor. Many U.S.
states have laws that even limit the sale of prison-produced products only to government
agencies. It makes us wonder which jobs the petitioners are trying to save.”
Train concluded, “Unlike the petitioners, we believe the market should dictate the styles
and choices for the consumer rather than protectionist government actions influenced by
the Goliath US flooring manufacturers. If free choice and reasonable prices are
4 of 4, AFCJF News Release 2-7-2011
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eliminated in hardwood flooring, then flooring customers – US consumers – will likely
drift or be forced down-market to less expensive products such as laminate and vinyl
plank – which, ironically, are also mostly made overseas.”
For more information, please go to the FAQ section at the Alliance for Free Choice and
Jobs in Flooring (AFCJF) website, www.choiceandjobs.com.