American Mattress Manufacturers and Unions File Unfair Trade Cases Against Dumped and Subsidized Imports of Mattresses from Eight Countries

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of US mattress manufacturers, including Brooklyn Bedding, Corsicana Mattress Company, Elite Comfort Solutions, FXI, Inc., Kolcraft Enterprises Inc., and Leggett & Platt, Incorporated, as well as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO ("USW") (collectively, the "Mattress Petitioners"), today filed antidumping duty petitions on unfairly traded imports of mattresses from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam, and a countervailing duty petition on subsidized mattresses from China.  These imports are causing material injury and threat of material injury to the US mattress industry.

These petitions were filed concurrently with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission, just over three months after the US Department of Commerce published an antidumping duty order on mattresses from China. 

"In the face of antidumping duties on Chinese imports to address unfair trade, Chinese producers rapidly changed their supply options, engaging in 'country hopping' to avoid duties," says Yohai Baisburd, counsel to the Mattress Petitioners.  "During a period when US demand increased by one percent from 2017 to 2019, imports from these countries surged 32 percent.  They did so by taking market share away from the US industry using dumping and subsidies to undersell US mattresses."

The petitions establish the negative impact surging volumes of low-priced dumped and subsidized imports from these countries have caused to US mattress manufacturing jobs and the sales, profitability, production, and investments of the US industry. The Mattress Petitioners filed the petitions on behalf of the US mattress industry that employs over 10,000 workers across the United States.

The antidumping petitions allege margins ranging from 48% to 1,008% – the difference between the foreign producers' US prices and a normal value calculated under US trade law.  The countervailing duty petition alleges that Chinese producers benefit from numerous government subsidy programs.

The investigation is expected to take 9-13 months to complete, with a preliminary determination imposing countervailing duty deposits within approximately four months and antidumping duty deposits within approximately six months. 

The Mattress Petitioners believe this action is essential to ensure that the US mattress industry can compete on a level playing field and to allow for future reinvestment and growth for the entire US industry. 

"These petitions reflect the scale of the injury being suffered by US mattress producers," adds Baisburd, "as well as the US mattress industry's unwavering commitment to ensure US unfair trade laws are enforced."

The Mattress Petitioners are represented by Cassidy Levy Kent (USA) LLP. 

SOURCE The Mattress Petitioners