Hooker exits antidumping group; five others join
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, February 23, 2004
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Five companies have joined and one has withdrawn from the group of U.S. manufacturers seeking duties on wood bedroom furniture from China.
Top 25 manufacturer Hooker said it was dropping off the antidumping petition, now before U.S. authorities.
Adding their support are bedroom furniture producers Kindel Furniture, Value Line, Baker Road Furniture, Inwood Furniture and Modern Furniture. The changes bring to 31 the number of companies on the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade, which filed the petition in October with the U.S. Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission. Five labor unions also support the effort.
The agencies may have a ruling as early as April 28 on whether preliminary duties will be applied to Chinese wood bedroom furniture.
Hooker said its relatively small amount of domestic bedroom business, 4% of its total sales, and the petition's adverse affect on customer relations drove its decision to take a neutral stance.
"When we made the initial decision to support the petition, we had do idea how divisive this issue would become in our industry. If we had fully anticipated that, we would have been neutral from the start," said Paul Toms Jr., chairman and CEO.
If the petition leads to duties on Chinese wood bedroom furniture, under U.S. trade law, the proceeds of those duties could be distributed to the petitioning companies. Hooker said it will decline to share in any such duties.
Hooker is the second original supporter of the petition to drop out. Lexington Home Brands withdrew last year.
While Toms said Hooker employees might be concerned about the company's new stance on the petition, he expected them to understand.
"Without good relations with our retail customers, it could be very harmful to our employment," he said. "We had several of our largest customers express concerns over the initial position we'd taken. They felt it would harm both their business, and our business together."
Hooker also had concerns that its support of the petition could harm relations with Asian sourcing partners, he said.
Hooker remains opposed to illegal trade activity and committed to its domestic manufacturing operations, Toms said.
John Bassett, chairman of the Committee for Legal Trade and president and CEO of petitioner Vaughan-Bassett, was disappointed but not surprised by Hooker's decision. He noted that while U.S.-made bedroom is a small portion of Hooker's business, imports account for almost 50% of its sales. Hooker's domestic bedroom volume represented only around 1% of the petition's industry support, he said.
Bassett said the addition of the five new members bolsters the committee.
"Our coalition has never been larger or stronger," he said. "We now represent companies and furniture workers from 17 states."
Representatives of the Furniture Retailers of America, a group of U.S. retailers opposing the petition, hailed Hooker's new stand.
"Hooker Furniture understood that this petition, if successful, would damage its own customers by causing short-term price disruptions and product shortages that would adversely affect sales of bedroom furniture," said Mike Veitenheimer, an FRA spokesman and general counsel for retailer The Bombay Company. "Instead of saving American jobs, as claimed by the petitioners, the supply disruption would lead to job losses in the U.S. for retail company employees."
In addition to Bombay, FRA members include Rooms To Go, JCPenney, Havertys, Crate & Barrel, City Furniture, Rhodes Furniture and others.
| Acknowledgements | ||
| News Editor Jay McIntosh contributed to this story. | ||
