The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding agency, recently released the report as part of an ongoing series of reports on thousands of products imported into and exported from the United States. The following are other highlights from the report.

• The millwork industry produces a wide range of wooden products, including dowels, moldings, picture frames, windows, doors, blinds, shutters, and screens.

• The U.S. millwork industry has been transformed in recent years from an industry with domestically produced raw materials and low import levels to an industry that now obtains raw materials from many foreign countries and faces rising import competition. Many of the countries that furnish the U.S. industry with its raw materials now also export increasing quantities of millwork products to this country. The competitive pressures felt by U.S. producers as they have adjusted to the globalization of their industry have been significant. Still, the industry's strengths, such as quality, reliability of supply, and greater variety of products, make it competitive in the U.S. market as well as in foreign markets.

• U.S. shipments of millwork products increased from $10.1 billion in 1992 to $11.9 billion in 1996, the years covered by the report. Exports of these products accounted for less than 3 percent of U.S. shipments. Imports of millwork products rose 80 percent over the period to $800 million, and import penetration grew from 4.4 percent to 6.4 percent. Major export markets included Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. Mexico, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, Malaysia, and China were major suppliers to the United States.

• More than 80 percent of millwork imports entered the United States free of duty in 1996. The trade-weighted average duty rate on the remainder was less than 1 percent ad valorem. Tariffs on U.S. millwork exports to major markets range from free to 9 percent ad valorem.

• There are two distinct markets for millwork products -- the new construction market and the residential repair/home improvement market. In the new construction market, millwork is marketed primarily to architects, home builders, and, to a lesser extent, home buyers. In the repair market, these products are primarily used by professional renovators, home improvement contractors, and the do-it-yourself homeowner. Demand for millwork products is driven by the level of housing starts and by home repair and remodeling activity.

The foregoing information is from the ITC report Industry and Trade Summary: Millwork (USITC Publication 3096, April 1998).

ITC Industry and Trade Summary reports include information on product uses, U.S. and foreign producers, and customs treatment of the product being studied. They analyze the basic factors affecting trends in consumption, production, and trade of the commodities, as well as factors bearing on the competitiveness of the U.S. industry in domestic and foreign markets.

This report will be available for downloading from the ITC's Internet server at (www.usitc.gov). A printed copy may be requested by calling 202-205-1809 or by writing the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20436. Requests may also be faxed to 202-205-2104.