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Washington DC Office
555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202.224.6342
Fax: 202.224.1100
North Carolina Offices
Raleigh Office:
310 New Bern Avenue
Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601
Ph: 919.856.4630
Fax: 919.856.4053
Salisbury Office:
225 North Main Street
Suite 304
Salisbury, NC 28144
Ph: 704.633.5011
Fax: 704.633.2937
Western Office:
401 North Main Street
Suite 200
Hendersonville, NC 28792
Ph: 828.698.3747
Fax: 828.698.1267
Eastern Office:
306 South Evans Street
Greenville, NC 27835
Ph: 252.329.1093
Fax: 252.329.1097
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Press Office - Articles
NORTH CAROLINA MUST STOP ILLEGAL FURNITURE DUMPING BY CHINA
Guest Editorial
Author: Senator Elizabeth Dole
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November 10th, 2003 - For years, the furniture industry in North Carolina has thrived and been a source of pride for workers and residents alike in our great state. From beds to sofas to dressers, consumers actively sought the quality and dependability of North Carolina-made furniture.
But in recent years, our industry has been decimated, mostly because of cheap, illegal wood bedroom furniture coming in from China. The American Furniture Manufacturers’ Committee for Legal Trade has said that from 2000 to 2002, imports of wood beds and other bedroom furniture from China increased in value 121 percent! U.S. manufacturers estimate that during the same period, the domestic industry’s shipments fell 21 percent, sales dropped 20 percent and operating income plunged 47 percent.
These Chinese companies are unfairly “dumping” their furniture in the United States below costs. And their government helps them, by devaluing their currency. In fact, economists have estimated in congressional testimony that China’s currency may be undervalued by as much as 40 percent. This gives China’s exports a nearly insurmountable advantage against United States producers, and it hurts our North Carolina workers, who deserve a fair playing field.
North Carolina has lost 7,900 furniture and related product manufacturing jobs in the past two years. Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Labor reports that 34,700 wood furniture workers -- or 28% of the workforce -- have lost their jobs in the last 2 and ½ years. Many of those have been in our state, in places like Lenoir, High Point and throughout North Carolina. Far too often, companies that have been in communities for decades are shutting down, leaving employees, who have in many cases worked there all their lives, with no where to go.
I’m proud to work with our industry in fighting back against these illegal imports. Recently, a coalition of U.S. manufacturers of wood bedroom furniture, the American Furniture Manufacturers’ Committee for Legal Trade, filed an antidumping petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. If they are successful, wood bedroom furniture imported from China would be subject to duties or fees. Ed Tashjian of Century Furniture Industries Inc. of Hickory said that “American furniture manufacturers are not going to sit idly by.” And I agree, they shouldn’t.
The goal of the companies that make up the coalition is one that should be supported by all of us who wish to protect North Carolina’s traditional manufacturing sectors. I have met with members of this coalition, and I have repeatedly called for Administration leadership on the Chinese currency issue. I’ve also called on the Administration to enact the China safeguards, for surges of goods that disrupt our markets have become commonplace and enforcement action aimed at unfair trade is long overdue. The rules that China is violating are clear. It is time we enforce these safeguards. I have heard critics charge that policies against China violate the principles of free trade. This is simply inaccurate. I am a firm believer in free but fair trade. However the United States should not be on the losing end of trade agreements that are not enforced. It is time that we make China play fairly.
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