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U.S. Slaps Duties on Chinese Furniture
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By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties of up to nearly 200 percent on $1.2 billion of wooden bedroom furniture imported from China, but said most Chinese companies would escape the highest duties.
The anti-dumping case is the largest yet brought by U.S. manufacturers against their Chinese competitors and could lead to higher prices on wooden dressers, headboards and other staples of the American bedroom.
The Bush administration's action follows charges by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) that it has not aggressively enforced U.S. trade laws, especially against China, to keep jobs from moving overseas.
The U.S. trade deficit with China hit a record $124 billion in 2003 and is projected to grow even larger this year.
In the furniture case, more than two dozen U.S. furniture makers and labor unions in Virginia, North Carolina and 12 other states had asked for duties of up to 441 percent to offset alleged unfair pricing by their Chinese rivals.
However, the Commerce Department (news - web sites)'s preliminary decision found a much lower level of "dumping" on the bulk of China's wooden bedroom furniture exports to the United States.
James Jochum, assistant secretary of commerce for import administration, told reporters that seven companies that account for roughly 40 percent of all wooden bedroom furniture shipments from China to the United States would face duties ranging from 4.9 to 24.34 percent.
Eighty-two companies which showed that their exporting was not controlled by the Chinese government were hit with a duty of 10.92 percent. Those companies also account for about 40 percent of shipments to the United States, he said.
Remaining Chinese furniture producers and exporters face a new duty of 198.08 percent. Those could number in the thousands, but accounted for only about 20 percent of shipments to the United States last year, Jochum said.
Lynn Chipperfield, vice president of Furniture Brands International Inc. (NYSE:FBN - news), the largest U.S. home furnishing manufacturer, said the Commerce Department's ruling would have no impact on its business.
"With tariffs at this rate you have to wonder why they even bothered," Chipperfield said.
But Doug Bassett, vice president of sales at Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co., said he expected duty levels to rise when the Commerce Department made its final decision.
"This is a preliminary ruling and the final ruling will not be until October. The duties announced thus far are the floor and not the ceiling of what will occur," Bassett said.
U.S. imports of Chinese wooden bedroom furniture surged to nearly $1.2 billion last year from $359 million in 2000. By some analysts' estimates, China produces at least 40 percent of all furniture sold in the United States. (Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Michael Flaherty and Anupama Chandrasekaran in New York) |
