Jeff Levin, lead counsel for the Coalition for Hardwood Parity (CAHP), released a statement after the U.S. International Trade Commission issued its final affirmative determination in the trade investigations of multilayered (engineered) wood flooring from China yesterday.

The investigation was initiated by a petition filed last year by CAHP. Levin stated, “We are very pleased with the ITC’s determination. This marks a successful conclusion to a hard-fought battle, and represents an important win for American manufacturing, and the fight to keep honest paying manufacturing jobs in this country. This also represents a substantial step towards redressing the harmful impact of unfair trading in the U.S. market.”

As reported yesterday, Jonathan Train, Alliance for Free Choice and Jobs in Flooring (AFCJF) president, said he believed the results of the case were “a failure of the system rather than any validation of the petitioners’ claims. We eagerly await our chance to review the commentary and will decide then if we wish to appeal the decision with the higher courts.”

U.S. imports from the Chinese manufacturers are now subject to cash deposit requirements for estimated antidumping and countervailing duties at rates determined last month. However, U.S. importers will not know the actual amount of duties they will owe on current and future imports of the product for more than a year, until after the U.S. Department of Commerce determines their ultimate duty liability through its annual administrative review process.