U.S. to continue probing Chinese plywood imports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. trade officials plan to continue their anti-dumping investigation into certain hardwood plywood products imported from China, it said in a preliminary statement on Friday.

The U.S. International Trade Commission, in a statement on its website, said it had made "affirmative determinations" in the preliminary phase of its anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations concerning hardwood plywood from China.

The statement offered no details but a fuller statement was expected to be released publicly later on Friday, the ITC said.

The Commerce Department said on Dec. 9 that it had decided to open anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty investigations into the products, which are used in wall panels, kitchen cabinets, table and desk tops and flooring.

The investigations follow petitions from six privately owned U.S. plywood producers into the imports, which the department estimates totaled $1.15 billion in 2015.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Writing by Eric Walsh; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Trott)