U.S. Furniture Makers to Seek Protection From China Imports

Wall Street Journal ^ | 7/15/03 | Dan Morse

[Texas_Dawg]

A group of American makers of wood bedroom furniture is preparing to seek protection from the U.S. government to stem a surge of imports from China that the companies say has ravaged their industry.

John Bassett, president and chief executive of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co., Galax, Va., and a spokesman for the group of 14 furniture makers, said the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade intends to file an antidumping petition this fall with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission.

[harpseal]

If you knew how much of your money you wasted on tariffs (which are just another tax) to prop up Democratic union members, you'd probably laugh at these guys too.

Actually given GATT as curently in force the amount you pay in tariffs is practicly nil. If you do not believe me check out the US government web sites and then while you are at it check out OPIC a US government agency.

[Capriole]

inefficient American workers

Superb craftsmanship is inherently inefficient. You can't do it with fast, rough techniques. And you can't pay any American seventeen cents a day to do it, like the Chinese get. It's not unreasonable to pay Americans a humble living wage. Believe me, these workers aren't rich.

[RightWingNut]

Perhaps I can add a bit of fuel to this fire. Here in my little hometown, we recently witnessed a large furniture manufacturer close it's doors. This company had been here for many decades. This closing costs hundreds of people their jobs. Honest, hard working Americans.

The owner asked how could he manufacture the furniture when others could import it from China cheaper ? How much more are we willing to pay for a product to be made in the U.S.A. ?

Are we willing to pay $ 250 for that pair of Nike or Reebok tennis shoes that now cost $ 100 ?

Are we willing to pay $ 125 for that Hathaway dress short that now costs $ 45 ? (I used to always buy Hathaway simply because they were made in the U.S. and they were an excellent quality shirt !!)

Would we pay $ 500 for a pair of dress shoes when we can now pay $ 200 ?

When comparing products, if the quality was even close, I would always buy the product that made here in the U.S.A. Try to go into a Beds, Bath and Beyond and find anything that's made in the U.S.A.

My mother said it best "These jobs may not pay a lot, but they were jobs. Everybody can't operate a computer and have an office job." Simply stated, but accurate and to the point.

As Americans, we demand the best and frequently want to pay less for it that we did last year. This means, the labor intensive jobs are leaving.

For what it's worth, I've never owned an imported car !!! I'm looking at a Lotus Esprit, but I'm also looking at a Roush Mustang for my everyday drive. (The Lotus is a long time fantasy, along with Claudia Schifer but that fantasy is for another chat room !! LOL)

Between greedy, short-sighted unions, inept business management, and a government which has no clue regarding stable business policies, it's a miracle we have any jobs left !!

P.S. I do have an ecomics background. B.S. Accounting & Business management (double major), minor in Economics. M.B.A. in Finance & International Business (double concentration).

[LanPB01]

Last I heard, the average American pays over $1,000 a year due to effort to "protect" American workers and jobs through restrictions on foreign trade. We end up paying more than these jobs are worth.

International trade SHOULD be a free market. If they want to export cheap goods to us, so be it. If they don't want to accept our exports, that's their mistake - it's only going to hurt them in the long run.

[Jeff Head]

You know TD... I personally am friends with harpseal. If your comments to austinTParty (whom I also know from my consulting time down in Austin and marches/counter-protests/etc. at the Austin State House I believe) were directed at him, or refering to him, you are way off base.

FYI, harpseal is the real thing. He has served this nation with honor in ways you and I cannot comprehend. He is articulat and understands the issues and has very informed and very credible ideas and thoughts regarding those issues...whether you, I or other agree with him or not. I happen to agree with him and know he is stating those ideas out of a concern and love for his nation and our liberties that is born of those experiences he had while protecting and defending the very liberty of which we speak.

He deserves much more respect than you are giving him in that post, if that post was meant as a back handed way of addressing him. I have found it to be the case, through the school of hard knock, to not go off on someone before you come to know a little more about them. From your comments, you clearly know very little about harpseal.

In addition to the respect (which we all deserve) he also deserves an honest discussion of the issues out of the concrn we all have for the principles that have made this nation what it is, where we are free to have this very discussion so openly. This is simply my advise and opinion as a native Texan myself on seeing the exchange.

If your comments were not meant about him...I apologize in advance for jumping up on my soap box and providing the covering fire.

Fregards.

Jeff

[Jim Cane]

In all fairness the right to a certain job is not part of our system.Communism guarantees you work,etc.Having experienced joblessness in our family,I am aware of the pain, finally moving across country to get a job,etc.

*sigh*

I am not advocating some "right to work". I am advocating stuffing the government back into it's Constitutional box. The government has the Constitutionally enumerated power to levy tarrifs. It does not have the legal power to take my money from me and my business for the purposes of giving it to my competitor to set up a factory overseas, or spend my tax money to help my competitors finance Rupee Gupta's immigration to program on the cheap.

The 800lb federal gorilla has the power to do whatever it wants of course, but it's neither legal, moral, nor logical.

[Texas_Dawg]

This closing costs hundreds of people their jobs. Honest, hard working Americans.

Sigh...

We've lost tens of thousands of butter-churning, flag-sewing, and horseshoe-cobbling jobs over the years as well. Do we need tariffs to protect these industries? Thousands and thousands of people have lost their jobs in these industries, people! Enough is enough! We should demand that the government hike tariffs so high that these people will each be paid $50,000 a year to cobble horseshoes and churn our butter!

[harpseal]

In all fairness the right to a certain job is not part of our system.Communism guarantees you work,etc.Having experienced joblessness in our family,I am aware of the pain, finally moving across country to get a job,etc.

This is not about the right to a certain job. It is about the right to an economic system that is not stacked against the USA.

[LanPB01]

Can't find the source of that $1,000 per American claim now. It seems like I heard that in a radio broadcast somewhere. The only thing I can find online says the average American household pays $725 per year due to protective tactics.

[riri]

Then let me ask you a question? Why can Germany, a ridicously unionized and um, worker friendly and business unfriendly, environment sell quality merchandise at affordable prices with a large VAT tax built in?

I furnished an entire house there, meaning I had to buy everything from a toaster to curtains to washer and dryer to vaccum cleaner. Nearly all German made products of great quality that did not cost too much more than the crap I buy here made in China.

The Germans do pretty much everything wrong but if they can bring a quality product to the table..why can't we?

[harpseal]

This is not about butter churning or hirse cobbling jobs it is about an economic structure that proicides a free market within the USA that is protected from predatory practicesw and against the Federal Government taxing people to support foreign nations which is the system you are so ardently defending.

[Texas_Dawg]

Since you seem so enamoredc of the People's Republic of China why do you not try living and working there instead of this nation where so many have shed blodd for liberty.

First of all, nothing personal. No big deal to me. Just funny the hysterics from the national socialist tariffs side.

Second of all, as you can see from the quote above, your advice should go both ways, of course.

[Aquinasfan]

the thread was concerning the big picture of how our economy can survive with such a huge trade deficit and the rest of the world holding so many dollars.

The dollars will eventually be used here, unless they plan on smoking them.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Stickley furniture isn't sold at it's rarified prices to any ordinary customer, it is sold to designers, people who know who and what Stickley was and is and those who will buy at these prices to lead the Joneses. The Stickley purchaser is buying an investment and creating a collection.

I promise you that these same manufacturers would import and resell Chinese wood furniture if they could control the prices at the retail level. They can't stand the competition from warehouse sales, discount sales, or import showrooms. The Chinese are knocking off all the expensive manufacturer's designs and the product is selling like hot cakes.

I have been convinced for years that the day of the furniture store as we know it is over, and that the manufacturer's who still manufacture will have their own retail stores, with less on display and more shown on huge monitors, as fabrics and finishes are changed for the consumer with the click of a mouse. Entire groups of furniture displayed on monitors in store front windows, changing consistently so as to never bore the shopper.

There goes the lousey furniture store with their 60% off phoney sale! What a shame! Factory prices are high enough. A drawer dresser with marble top wholesale to the retailer is $1075.00. That manufacturer tells the retailer he must sell it for no less than $1795.00, or lose the line. That is a 67% increase over wholesale. But the retailer will have that on his showroom floor for over $3,700.00, give you the big 40% off, you pay $2220.00. What a deal! Now that you've ordered it you may have to wait forever while the next shipment of hardware from Taiwan, China or South America is held up for some unlikely reason and production is slowed to accomodate.

I've been in the business for 30 years and it is a problem laden way to earn a living if ever there was one.

[harpseal]

The last I heard it was dowen to less tahn one hundred dollars per year but I can not document that with a refernece. Most of those would be from imports of items which are definite luxury items such as imported perfumes, liquors and crystal etc.

[Texas_Dawg]

My point was that we got by with the loss of those industries and we'll get by with the loss of all the industries you want to force me to pay for (as the Left wants me to pay for their welfare industry). The sooner we discard these dinosaurs, the better.

[Aquinasfan]

A deindustrializing country is a dying country.

Not necessarily. It doesn't make much sense to build something for more than it costs to buy from overseas, although we need to control the manufacture of defense-related products. Additionally, the interdependence of trading nations tends to make for a more peaceful world.

Whether we should be trading with a repressive government is another question.

[Jeff Head]

The advise does in fact go both ways, and someone has to start.

But again, your reference to his remarks as "hysterics from the national socialists tarriff side", only tend to draw more such fire.

Tariifs are constitutional, they were from the beginning. To state that they are necessarily "national socialist" is to paint the founders with that same broad brush, and I know you would agree that, that would be rediculous.

Knowing harpseal personally, I am trying to pass direct information to you that such a broad brush of him is just as rediculous. That's all. Just trying to give you some information that might help in your discussion.

Nothing more.

[Jim Cane]

If we as a nation were to compete in an absolute Free Trade envirornment where we were not facing high tariffs for exporting consumer goods to China among some other nations I have confidence we a a nation would successfully compete. However, ther current trade envirornment consists of evry nation haqs free access to American markets but American products are subject to tariffs and restrictions.

Absolutely! Our government has this self destructive "Free for thee, but not for me" mentality, and Americans have all jumped on the bandwagon to hell. Americans won't buy American because it's too expensive, so more Americans are laid off resulting in stagnant wages and decreased ability to purchase even imported goods, but the people overseas are hardly concerned because, having built all these shiney new factories, they can produce things, make money, and spend it on their fellow countriman's goods. They sure as hell won't be buying American either - we won't be producing anything anymore.

We are in a rapidly tightening death spiral.


Have a nice day!

[MEG33]

Now you're speaking of things I can relate to!