March 29, 2004

By: Art Bogoch
Website: http://www.1st-in-home-decor.com

ANTIDUMPING PETITION ON CHINESE BEDROOM FURNITURE HURTS CONSUMERS

Representatives of large and small furniture U.S. retailers warned today that an antidumping petition filed by a group of domestic furniture manufacturers to cut off access to Chinese bedroom furniture imports would have severe consequences for the U.S. retail industry and U.S. consumers, and announced the formation of the Furniture Retailers of America coalition to fight the ill-conceived and damaging petition filed with the International Trade Commission.

The announcement followed today’s ITC preliminary vote that found a reasonable indication that the domestic industry of wooden bedroom furniture has been materially injured as a result of imports from China. Petitioners are seeking duties as high as 440 percent.

This petition is a brazen and hypocritical attempt by some domestic furniture companies to use the U.S. government to manipulate the bedroom furniture market in their favor, at the expense of American consumers and independent furniture retail stores, said Mike Veitenheimer, FRA Spokesperson and Vice President and General Counsel for The Bombay Company. Claiming that the petition against China will ‘save American jobs’ is simply not true. Instead, the short term price disruptions and product shortages are almost certain to adversely affect sales of bedroom furniture leading to job losses for retail company employees. Our coalition of retailers has come together to fight this petition in order to protect our customers and employees.

Over 60 retail companies throughout the U.S. have joined the FRA to date, including such widely popular national furniture stores as Rooms To Go, JCPenney’s, Havertys, Crate & Barrel, The Bombay Company, City Furniture, Rhodes Furniture, among others. Many of these companies sell wooden bedroom products purchased from domestic suppliers, China and other sources to meet needs of their American customers.

This is one of the most cynical trade cases brought before the ITC in recent memory, said William Silverman, FRA Counsel and an attorney with Hunton & Williams. The domestic manufacturers helped create the Chinese bedroom furniture industry years ago to obtain access to low-cost, high quality furniture that it then resold directly to American retailers. Some of the petitioners have imported wooden bedroom furniture from China for years and profited by reselling these Chinese imports to major retailers. Once retailers went to China directly, thereby eliminating petitioners’ middlemen profits, the group of domestic producers responded by filing this dumping case with the ITC.

Said Veitenheimer, Many domestic producers have adjusted well to the global market. In fact, the largest domestic furniture producer, Furniture Brands, is actively opposing the petition. The real targets of the petitioners’ actions are not Chinese imports themselves, but their competitors and American retailers who are no longer paying the middleman profits to the domestic manufacturers but instead dealing directly with Chinese manufacturers.

During the investigation, he said, some of the petitioners’ furniture buyers were in Vietnam, Brazil and other countries establishing relationships with other foreign manufacturers to replace the Chinese imports and ensure their profits as importers and as middlemen.

In testimony before the ITC earlier this month, retailers, importers and trade experts testified that Chinese bedroom furniture imports have benefited domestic furniture manufacturers, retailers and consumers. Products from China have brought purchasers into the market by offering a broader range of furniture styles at affordable prices, and domestic furniture producers have themselves adopted blended production strategies (using both domestically produced and Chinese-made furniture in bedroom suites) to maximize profits.

The petition covers approximately $1 billion dollars worth of wooden bedroom furniture from China. Affected merchandise would include: wooden beds, headboards, night tables, dressers, bureaus, hutches, armoires and certain book cases or writing tables.

The FRA’s goal is to defeat this unjustified petition before more damage is done, said Veitenheimer. There is no benefit that will come from it. U.S. jobs will be not be saved or returned. Instead, U.S. retailer jobs may be lost and U.S. consumers will face major disruptions — with price, choices and quality in the short term.

The Furniture Retailers of America is comprised of large and small retail companies throughout the U.S. formed to protect its customers from a group of domestic furniture manufacturers seeking to restrict consumer access to high quality wooden bedroom furniture by filing an anti-dumping petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission.

About The Author:

Art Bogoch is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-home-decor.com.  Home decorating tips and ideas to showcase any room with style.