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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s plan to impose 25% tariffs on a range of Chinese-made products could impact the furniture industry.
That is a message from Mowry & Grimson, a Washington law firm that has represented furniture importers on trade issues in the past, including the antidumping case on Chinese-made wooden bedroom furniture.
The firm this week published a notice alerting the industry that comments have been filed by a May 11 deadline in response to the initial list of products released in March by the U.S. Trade Representative. These items are among those that could be hit with tariffs under the Section 301 investigation.
The comments include requests for products to be either excluded or included on the list.
Among the comments, the firm said, was a request filed by the United Steelworkers Union to add to the Harmonized Tariff (HTS) Code 9403.2000, which includes metal furniture. This category, the firm said, could include a variety of metal household furniture products including beds, cocktail tables, shelving and outdoor furniture.
The USW also requested the inclusion of folding cartons and cases of both non-corrugated and corrugated paper or paper board.
Another firm, HNI Corp. requested the inclusion of swivel seats with non-wooden frames with variable height adjustment such as those used in offices.
“The industries producing adjustable office chairs and metal filing cabinets in China are large and have substantial production capacity,” HNI wrote in the comments section. “The Chinese office furniture industry is understood to benefit from government-sponsored industrial policies, including major production subsidies. The imposition of tariffs against imports of adjustable office chairs and metal filing cabinets from China would have a beneficial impact on U.S. producers of these products, because there is significant production of these products within the United States and imports of these products are available from numerous other source countries.”
Meanwhile, Nashville Wire Products requested the inclusion of furniture components such as metal, welded wire rack and decking similar to materials used in metal shelving units.
In addition, the Decorative Hardwoods Assn. supports the inclusion of wood veneer imports from China on the list of products facing tariffs.
“The imposition of duties on wood veneer imports from China would squarely address a significant trade distorting imbalance confronted by U.S. manufacturers without any residual or unintended impact on the U.S. market and U.S. consumers,” wrote Kip Howlett, president of the Decorative Hardwoods Assn. “More importantly, it would open up the discussion for more open and fair trade of U.S. veneer into the Chinese market.”
These were among the 2,767 comments that were filed relating to the 25% tariffs as of noon Thursday.
“We have identified these products as of interest to our clients, but we make no claim that this is a comprehensive list,” Mowry & Grimson said in its alert. “Filings that were made by the May 11 deadline are still being made public now and the list of comments grows daily.”
Mowry & Grimson noted that the USTR is holding a three-day hearing this week on the issue but is accepting comments until May 22.
To view the firm’s news alert visit: https://conta.cc/2IilsiR
