IWPA Speaks for Foreign Trade and Against Illegal Practices

Representatives of the International Wood Products Association (IWPA) recently met with the International Trade Commission (ITC) to discuss how the association feels its industry supports the U.S. job market and sustainable practices world-wide. According to IWPA, the $23 billion imported wood products industry supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

“The demand for high-quality, affordable imported woods, many of which are species that just don't grow in the U.S., helps support U.S. manufacturing, distribution and retailing, not to mention the U.S. consumer,” IWPA executive vice president Brent McClendon says. “The benefits are seen in industries as diverse as hardwood plywood, kitchen cabinets, flooring, recreational vehicles and manufactured housing.”

A panel, including IWPA president Stuart Clarke of Clarke Veneers and Plywood in Jackson, Miss., Don Thompson of Thompson Mahogany in Philadelphia, Pa., and McClendon, commented on the value of imports for domestic manufacturers and answered questions from the six ITC commissioners and their staff members at a public hearing. The session was a part of the Section 332 investigation on the U.S. flooring and hardwood plywood industries.

IWPA says all of the imports handled by its members arrive in the United States, accompanied by the necessary permits, documents and paperwork that allow them to be traded legally and sustainably under international and national laws and regulations.

“Our members are made up largely of small family-owned businesses that personally visit their overseas supplier operations to ensure that these businesses are built upon sustainability and legality,” McClendon says. “Following these best practices, importers play an active role in the future of people in developing countries who rely on forests for their livelihoods.”

The IWPA members emphasized the seriousness of the issues the ITC commissioners currently face. Speakers condemned illegal logging and encouraged the U.S. government to take action against those who willfully misclassify products and take part in deceptive business practices for a competitive advantage.

IWPA says it applauds the government’s work against illegal logging, including the recent negotiation of several bilateral agreements with foreign countries to address illegal logging. Among those agreements are the U.S.-Indonesia Memorandum of Understanding on combating Illegal Logging and Associated Trade and the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue Task Force to Create Bilateral Agreement Addressing Illegal Logging and Associated Trade. The association says it has also played an active and ongoing role in the U.S. government’s efforts to combat illegal logging through the President’s Initiative Against Illegal Logging (PIAIL).

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