Posted on 06/19/2004 8:30:52 PM PDT by take
Chinese exporters of furniture face tariffs from U.S.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commerce Department slapped tariffs of as much as 198 percent on imported bedroom furniture from China, a decision that could cut the $1 billion a year of those imports and may raise prices for consumers.
Most of the largest exporters of furniture, representing 80 percent of U.S. imports, will pay tariffs of 24 percent or less, with 82 of the companies paying an 11 percent tariff, according to the Commerce Department.
"The duties could have been a whole lot worse," Mike Veitenheimer, a vice president for furniture retailer Bombay Co., which opposed the duties, said in an interview. Still, the thousands of companies not singled out will pay the 198 percent, and they "are going to be put out of business."
The tariffs begin next week. Yesterday's decision is preliminary and there are still two more rulings needed to formalize the tax, which would last for five years or more.
"The illegal dumping by the Chinese has devastated the U.S. bedroom industry," said John Bassett, chief executive of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture.
Since President Bush took office three years ago, some 35,000 wood-furniture workers, or 28 percent of the work force, have lost their jobs, the U.S. companies say.
Opponents of the protection, including nearly half the U.S. furniture industry, say that the tariffs won't restore U.S. workers' jobs, although they might help shift production from China to Vietnam or other Asian nations.
The Bush administration said that yesterday's ruling shows that it's cracking down on trade it labels illegal.
"We've had a lot of Chinese cases and we expect to have more," said James Jochum, assistant secretary of commerce for import administration.
China has denied unfairly selling its goods.
"We sold furniture to the U.S. based on fair market practices," Cao Yingchao, secretary general of China National Furniture Association in Beijing, said before the decision. "We deny any charge that we sold our wooden furniture in the U.S. at below cost."
He said he would urge Chinese producers to appeal.
Bedroom-furniture imports from China increased 121 percent from 2000 to 2002, and another 54 percent in the first six months of last year from 2002. Furniture makers such as Bassett, Stanley and Hooker Furniture say that increase threatens to put them out of business.
Imports of furniture from China and other low-wage countries rose to 33 percent in 2001 from 1 percent in 1972, according to a study by Andrew Bernard, an economist at Dartmouth University. They are likely to increase to 57 percent by 2011, he said.
If you are making excuses for the Chevy Vega, you might as well sing the praises of the GM 350 gasoline engine converted to diesel that blew up at 35,000 miles or the Caprice Classic with the nylon reverse gear that heated and cracked at 50,000 miles.
Where are we going with this conversation anyhow?
In the automobile industry, there would have been little significant improvement in auto quality without the introduction of Japanese imports. I don't think you will find many disagreeing with this position.
And no, we are not still using ric shaws. We have something that goes a we bit faster than that. 430km/h give or take a few.
Shanghai Mag Lev
123 - LOL - "In the automobile industry, there would have been little significant improvement in auto quality without the introduction of Japanese imports. I don't think you will find many disagreeing with this position."
Wow - Just about everybody would disagree. Americans invented mass production of automobiles and just about all the major innovations in them from the beginning.
Dr. W. Edwards Deming did good work, teaching the Japanese the principles of Total Quality Management.
The US did have a decline in quality of Auto's in the 70's, and early 80's, when the liberals were taking over, and the corporations got too greedy. We got over it, and Demming and his Japanese students did help speed up the process.
Nice train. The Germans do good work don't they? Too bad nobody can afford to ride it, even when we Americans paid for it. A good example of why I have a problem with trade with China.
No body on earth has yet to find a way to make mag-lev economical, even in China. And with $1000 per year average per capita income, no one will ride it, though you do have enough people to support ridership.
Here in the US we have been screwing around with Mag-lev for years, but it's just not economical enough and not practical enough. We really don't have the population density for great mass transit, so we all have cars. Much better suited to our way of life. Sort of like the Supersonic Transport, not very efficient.
You need to read more closely. Quite obviously we are not talking about the beginning of auto production when mention is made of Japanese imports. It is a fact that U.S. quality in cars was not up to standard at the time Japanese imports started arriving on U.S. shores.
Japanese cars were a joke, until Deming (an American) taught the Japs how to improve quality. Americans made all the major discoveries and improvements throughout automotive history, up until now. For a time in the 70's and 80's, quality slipped when the Unions and Corporations got greedy.
My last Dodge pickup went 20 years with no major repairs, and my brother ran it another 10. My current Dodge picup is still doing fine after 18 years, and still burns no oil (zero).I did put some new brakes on it at about 165,000 miles though. tell me about American quality.
I am in the furniture industry in the wholesale side. Yes, prices for wooden Chinese-made bedroom furniture is going to increase the costs to the consumer. Take the 10% tariff placed on the 80 something companies. That will mean that the consumers will pay in the ball park of 20%-25% more at retail for that piece of furniture.
bump
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.