Import Duties On Chinese Bedroom Furniture Amount To Consumer Tax Says Retailers of America Group

Furniture World Magazine

he Furniture Retailers of America (FRA) criticized today’s decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC) that imports of Chinese wooden bedroom furniture have caused injury to domestic furniture producers, calling the decision “unwarranted” and “an unnecessary tax on American consumers.” ITC Commissioners made an affirmative determination in its final phase antidumping investigation concerning Wooden Bedroom Furniture from China, that imports had caused injury to the domestic industry during the period investigated. Final margins announced in November by the Department of Commerce will remain in place: mandatory respondent rates range from 2.2 percent to 16.7 percent, the “Section A” rate (applicable to 115 Chinese companies, on approximately 65 percent of imported goods) is 8.64 percent, and the country-wide rate (which applies to only a small percentage of imports) is 198 percent. “The ITC’s decision was simply wrong on the facts,” said Michael Veitenheimer, spokesperson for the FRA and also the Vice President and General Counsel of The Bombay Company. “The dumping margins found by Commerce were so low, that it is inconceivable how the Commission could determine that Chinese pricing caused the domestic industry's problems. It is a frustrating decision for U.S. retailers and importers who strive to provide their customers with affordable, quality bedroom furniture for their homes. “There is absolutely no benefit from this decision. This action will not bring any jobs back to the United States, nor protect those that are still here. The ITC chose to ignore this information and rule in favor of the same petitioners who are already major importers and continue aggressively moving their production to Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries. “The end result is that American consumers are forced to pay a new tax on bedroom furniture. This isn’t how our trade laws should work.” He further explained that the worst part of the decision was that the petitioners stand to rake in millions through the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA), widely known as the "Byrd Amendment," which mandates distribution of antidumping and countervailing duties to companies that support petitions to the U.S. Government for trade protection, rather than to the U.S. Treasury, where other duties are sent. This practice was recently declared impermissible by the World Trade Organization (WTO). He continued, “We conservatively estimate, based on 2003 import volume, that the first payouts will be in excess of $100 million or an average of roughly $4 million for each of the 26 petitioners. The sad part is that the payments are coming from the pockets of American retailers and consumers through a new bedroom furniture taxes.” “Importers and retailers of all sizes, from all across the U.S. came together to form the FRA. We are proud that our efforts have helped bring about significantly lower rates than the preposterous rates the petitioners requested. But the battle isn’t over. FRA will continue to fight on behalf of the American consumer for fair trade practices.” Copies of the ITC press release on the final vote will be available at http://www.usitc.gov. The Furniture Retailers of America (FRA) 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. FRA now represents well over 4,000 retail outlets and 300,000 associates/employees nationwide. For addition information, please visit http: www.furnitureretailers.org.