b'BUSINESStileimportsfromChinawere434capacity,supplying864million million square feet, 37% less thansquare feet of tiles to the American in 2018. Chinese imports made upmarket.Weexpectedthatwork-21.2% of total U.S. tile imports bying at full capacity these factories volumein2019.Thiswasdownwould have been able to ship an from31.5%in2018,andrepre- additional 275 million square feet sented Chinas lowest share of U.S.oftiles,leavingashortageinthe importssince2008,asshowninmarket of 415 million square feet. thechartonthepreviouspage,Such a large amount of tiles wouldwedi Shower produced by Tile Council of Northhave to be replaced by imports. NicheAmerica (TCNA). IntheUnitedStates,thereare PriortoCOVID-19project- over600companiesthatimport ingtileconsumptionintheU.S.tiles.Asaresultofthetariffson in2020atthesamelevelasinChinese tiles, many importers whowedi 2019we expected that the exitboughtinChinabeganincreasingBuilding Panel wedi Sanoasawedi SanoasaofChinesetileimportsfromthetheirimportsfromcountriesthatBench Shine LoungerAmerican market would generate aalreadyselllargequantitiesoftile supply shortage of about 690 mil- to the United States, such as Spain, wedi Fundo Ligno lion square feet of tiles. Italy, Brazil and Turkey. The largestwedi Sanbath Shower Base wedi Sublineroating wash basin importers from China began lookingwith channel Dry WaterproongMembraneU.S. shipments vs. imports fortileamonglow-pricecountries About 30% of tiles entering dis- such as India, Taiwan and Malaysia tributionchannelsintheUnitedwith the potential of making up the Statesareshippedbylocalfac- shortage of tiles in the U.S.tories,while70%areimported,Due to the fact that fi for- PREMIUM SHOWER SYSTEMS, nding according to the U.S Consumptioneign suppliers with the right prod- MAXIMUM BENEFITSof Ceramic Tile chart, compiled byuctstakestime,priortoCOVID-TCNA, below. 19, we expected shortages of sup-In2019,U.S.manufactur- plies, price increases, and loss of ersoperatedatabout75%-80%market share to competing fl ooring100% waterproof throughout productTested, certied and proven product systems& installation systemComplete range of shower systems andwedi Warrantyunique coverage and programs accessories, easily customizable for 10, 15 & 20-year warrantiesReady to tile upon installationsame day Fast and clean modular installation processeswedi Virtual Factory TourFind product suppliers, specs and videos on 28 TileLetter | July 2020 wedicorp.com Learn about usLike us on Follow us877-933-WEDI (9334) Facebook on Instagram on YouTube'