Industry sources have revealed that Chinese furniture manufacturers could face unprecedented dumping charges from the United States, their largest market.
The China National Furniture Association (CNFA) said on its website that the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade, a coalition of 14 US furniture makers, claimed on July 16 that it would file a petition in the autumn seeking investigations by the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission, targeting wood furniture imported from China.
Coalition spokesman John Bassett, who is also the president and CEO of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co, claimed that Chinese products have severely threatened US manufacturers, according to an article published on CNFA's website.
US Department of Commerce statistics show that China's exports of wood furniture last year were valued at US$2.89 billion, accounting for more than one-third of the same kind the United States imported last year.
The low price of Chinese furniture contributed much to the rise in the market share of Chinese manufacturers in the US market, the CNFA article said.
But, it is highly unlikely that furniture makers have sold their products at a price lower than their production cost, noted an expert from the Guangdong Furniture Association.
For example, almost all the furniture enterprises in the province are privately-owned or foreign-invested, they are profit-orientated and the last thing they would do would be to lose money in the United States.
If the petition is accepted and investigations are successful, Chinese-made furniture would be subject to anti-dumping duties, which will take a heavy toll on China's furniture industry.
South China's Guangdong Province, Beijing and Shanghai are the major manufacturing bases of furniture in China, with Guangdong being the largest.
The province contributed to more than one-third of nation's gross furniture industrial output value and some 51 per cent of the nation's furniture exports last year, according to Wu Xiaoyu, a customs official in Guangdong Province.
Zhang Chengzhi, deputy secretary-general of the Guangdong Provincial Furniture Association, told China Daily at the weekend that the province's furniture industry has its competitive advantages ranging from large production scale, high quality and relatively low production costs including labor cost thanks to the application of foreign technologies and modern woodworking equipment, as well as easier access to global trade development information in its two decades of development.
"Reasonable prices, good quality, a wide variety of goods and modern designs explain why Chinese-made furniture has sold like hot cakes in the global market," he said.
Zhang said furniture makers in the province, and in China as a whole, should prepare for the possible lawsuit.
The CNFA has set up a special office to deal with the likely anti-dumping procedures from the US side.
Enterprises are being advised to tap into the potential in new markets, such as the Southeast Asian countries, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East, which is expected to mitigate the impact of any possible US lawsuit.
He said local furniture makers should also strengthen their management, build global brand names and encourage designs innovations, which will increase the added value of their products.
(China Daily July 28, 2003)
Industry sources have revealed that Chinese furniture manufacturers could face unprecedented dumping charges from the United States, their largest market.
The China National Furniture Association (CNFA) said on its website that the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade, a coalition of 14 US furniture makers, claimed on July 16 that it would file a petition in the autumn seeking investigations by the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission, targeting wood furniture imported from China.
Coalition spokesman John Bassett, who is also the president and CEO of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co, claimed that Chinese products have severely threatened US manufacturers, according to an article published on CNFA's website.
US Department of Commerce statistics show that China's exports of wood furniture last year were valued at US$2.89 billion, accounting for more than one-third of the same kind the United States imported last year.
The low price of Chinese furniture contributed much to the rise in the market share of Chinese manufacturers in the US market, the CNFA article said.
But, it is highly unlikely that furniture makers have sold their products at a price lower than their production cost, noted an expert from the Guangdong Furniture Association.
For example, almost all the furniture enterprises in the province are privately-owned or foreign-invested, they are profit-orientated and the last thing they would do would be to lose money in the United States.
If the petition is accepted and investigations are successful, Chinese-made furniture would be subject to anti-dumping duties, which will take a heavy toll on China's furniture industry.
South China's Guangdong Province, Beijing and Shanghai are the major manufacturing bases of furniture in China, with Guangdong being the largest.
The province contributed to more than one-third of nation's gross furniture industrial output value and some 51 per cent of the nation's furniture exports last year, according to Wu Xiaoyu, a customs official in Guangdong Province.
Zhang Chengzhi, deputy secretary-general of the Guangdong Provincial Furniture Association, told China Daily at the weekend that the province's furniture industry has its competitive advantages ranging from large production scale, high quality and relatively low production costs including labor cost thanks to the application of foreign technologies and modern woodworking equipment, as well as easier access to global trade development information in its two decades of development.
"Reasonable prices, good quality, a wide variety of goods and modern designs explain why Chinese-made furniture has sold like hot cakes in the global market," he said.
Zhang said furniture makers in the province, and in China as a whole, should prepare for the possible lawsuit.
The CNFA has set up a special office to deal with the likely anti-dumping procedures from the US side.
Enterprises are being advised to tap into the potential in new markets, such as the Southeast Asian countries, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East, which is expected to mitigate the impact of any possible US lawsuit.
He said local furniture makers should also strengthen their management, build global brand names and encourage designs innovations, which will increase the added value of their products.
(China Daily July 28, 2003)
