I just got this in email today from Kurt at Rondo Music and thought it might be of interest to folks here:
email from Kurt at Rondo Music said:CITES UPDATE: After attending several CITES meetings it is our opinion that lower priced instruments (below $300) made with rosewood will no longer be available once current rosewood inventories run out (this is for all vendors, Fender, Epiphone, SX etc).
Models instead will likely be made with "engineered rosewood' which is sort of like plywood, and be constructed from pine and other non-rosewood materials. Of course Maple and Ebony will remain available (for now). We have several shipments of lower priced models using true rosewood that was harvested prior to the January 1, 2017 (Pre-Convention) deadline.
However, after that, supplies from all vendors will start to become extremely scare. Higher priced models (Agile, Gibson etc.) will likely still have rosewood available in limited supply for quite some time but ultimately we expect those supplies will run out as well. This is much like Brazilian Rosewood, which has been banned for export since 1992.
Note that guitars made with Brazilian rosewood have become highly sought after, and rather scarce due to their fine sound. This, combined with the export ban on Brazilian rosewood, make them a highly sought after product.
We expect a similar outcome with the select remaining rosewood models as well in time.
Kurt