US: Nearly 200 Chinese furniture companies face anti-dumping review

05/03/2012 12:00 - 405 Views

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Commerce said Wednesday that it has received requests to review nearly 200 Chinese producers of wood bedroom furniture, one of the largest number of review requests since it has been performing annual reviews in the bedroom case.

Wednesday's Federal Register listed 198 Chinese factories that have been recommended for review by U.S. producers and Chinese manufacturers.

The review largely seeks to determine whether a factory should be paying a duty that is higher or lower than its initial cash deposit rate for the year in question. This particular review covers shipments made in 2011.

If a factory did not make any shipments during that year, it has to inform the DOC within 60 days of the Feb. 29 publication of the notice in the Federal Register.

The review includes some well-known manufacturers including Alexander International, Eurosa Furniture, Fairmont Designs, Fine Furniture Shanghai, Dorbest Ltd. (Rui Feng) and Dalian Huafeng. Click here to see the full list of the companies.

Individual companies that have requested a review may ask to have that review request withdrawn within 90 days from Feb. 29. However these requests typically have to be approved by U.S. producers that have supported the antidumping petition.

The petition, first filed in 2003, asked the government to investigate the pricing tactics of Chinese producers. Through its subsequent investigation, the government eventually determined those producers were selling at prices considered below normal market values. In many cases, the producers were found to be selling finished goods below raw material costs, a violation of international trade laws.

This in turn created an unfair advantage in the marketplace that was said to have caused injury in the form of widespread job losses among U.S. producers.

The DOC plans to issue the results of this review no later than Jan. 31, 2013. It plans to complete the final results of the 2010 review by March 22.

By Thomas Russell

Source: Furniture Today