U.S. Furniture Makers Are Foiled By Low Tariffs on Chinese Rivals
The U.S. government proposed relatively small tariffs on China's leading furniture factories -- dealing a significant blow to a group of U.S. furniture makers that has been pushing the highest-value American dumping case against China.
The slim tariffs mean big furniture stores will continue to bring in heavy orders of wood bedroom furniture from China. Near term, U.S. consumers aren't expected to see large price increases.
Still, the full impact of Friday's actions won't be clear for at least six months, when final tariffs on wood bedroom furniture are set. During that time, the U.S. factories pushing the case say they will try to persuade regulators to recalculate the tariffs -- arguing that data sent by certain Chinese factories are flawed. Regulators are set to fly to China soon to study the factories. The preliminary tariffs were based on written correspondence.
As for the U.S. factories that launched the inquiry, they now find themselves in a tough spot -- on two fronts. First, their case has enraged many of the nation's largest furniture stores. It is these stores, as importers, that in many cases have to pay tariffs. The U.S. factories want to sell their product to these same stores.
Secondly, during the past few months -- leading up to Friday's announcement -- fears of bigger tariffs against China spurred furniture making in other low-wage nations. U.S. factories now face more competition from upstart players such as Vietnam.
The U.S. factories did win part of Friday's round -- against China's smaller factories. U.S. regulators proposed 198% tariffs against bedroom furniture made by the smaller factories, effectively pricing their products out of the U.S. market. The small factories make an estimated 20% of the Chinese bedroom exports that flow into U.S. furniture stores.
Factories around the world now will scramble to produce all those products -- valued at roughly $240 million. Based on Friday's initial ruling, though, China's largest factories, some of which already are expanding capacity, are well-positioned to strike.
"I really don't think this will cause China to lose any market-share," Mohamad Amini, executive vice president of Lacquer Craft Manufacturing Co., said in a telephone interview from Dongguan, China. "We're certainly happy with the initial results."
In all, U.S. regulators proposed nine different tariff rates. Seven of China's largest manufacturers each received their own tariff rate. Five of the seven avoided relatively heavy sanctions. Lacquer Craft Manufacturing, for example, was assigned a "margin" of 4.9%. That means that if a U.S. furniture store wants to import a $500 set of bedroom furniture from Lacquer Craft, the retailer is subject to paying a $24.50 import duty. Such a set of furniture would retail for around $1,000, given standard industry markups. For his part, Mr. Amini said Lacquer Craft would work to reduce its tariff rate to zero over the rest of the year.
U.S. regulators also set a catchall rate for 82 additional Chinese manufacturers. Again, the rate -- 10.9% -- wasn't as high as the U.S. manufacturers pushing the case had hoped. (Not all U.S. manufacturers supported the case.)
"I'm really relieved," said Jake Jabs, who imports heavily from China for his nine-store chain, the American Furniture Warehouse, based outside Denver.
U.S. regulators set the largest of the tariff rates to cover China's remaining factories. Most of these factories are smaller and didn't submit paperwork to U.S. trade investigators. Compelled by U.S. trade rules to make pricing assumptions and calculations, regulators came up with the 198% rate. Many U.S. furniture companies said the smaller factories in China are more likely to be under some form of government control, while the larger ones tend to be more under the control of private investors -- often from Taiwan.
Such is the case for Lacquer Craft. Executives there appear to have gone a long way in convincing U.S. regulators that Lacquer Craft operates much like a free-market enterprise. Among the demonstrations of this: Lacquer Craft imports much of its lumber from the U.S., saying it pays open-market prices for such supplies.
To be sure, the U.S. factories that launched the trade battle are likely to pick up new orders -- based on slight price increases and six months of continued uncertainty. And because imports have hit them so hard in the last few years, any new orders will come as welcome relief.
"Would we have liked to see higher duties? Of course. But it's a starting point," said Doug Bassett, an executive with Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co., Galax, Va., one of the companies spearheading the call for tariffs.
The U.S. manufacturers pushing for tariffs also were encouraged that regulators assigned at least some level of duties for all Chinese factories. That makes them all subject to higher final tariff rates within six to eight months -- which would effectively be retroactive to this month. "The good news is we've got all the companies in the net," said Joe Dorn, an attorney for the U.S. factories.
中国家具反倾销裁决令美国厂商大失所望
美国商务部(Commerce Department)上周五做出初步裁定，对中国主要家具商征收幅度相对较小的进口关税。这是迄今为止美国针对中国的涉及金额最大的反倾销案例。不过，对于那些一直积极游说美国政府对中国家具商征收反倾销关税的美国家具制造商来说，这一关税幅度对他们来说可谓是沉重的打击。
幅度较小的进口关税意味著美国的大型家具商店能够继续从中国进口大量的家具。短期内，美国的家具价格也不会出现大幅攀升的局面。
不过，上述反倾销裁决所产生的影响只有在等到做出最终裁决，即至少6个月之后才能全面显现出来。在此期间，那些提起反倾销诉讼的美国家具厂商表示他们将劝说美国监管机构重新计算关税，因为他们认为部分中国厂商提交的数据不够准确。美国的监管部门官员即将动身前往中国，对中国的工厂进行实地考察。美国的初步裁决是根据中国企业的书面回应做出的。
对于那些提起反倾销诉讼的美国家具厂商而言，它们现在正处于腹背受敌的窘境。一方面，它们的诉讼激怒了美国众多大型家具零售商。由于是从中国进口家具，因此许多情况下是由美国的家具零售店来支付进口关税。而此时，美国的家具厂商正希望本国的家具零售店能够出售它们的产品。
另一方面，在上周五裁定公布前的几个月里，对中国家具可能被征收大额关税的担心带动了其他一些劳动力成本低廉国家的家具生产。如今，随著越南等新兴势力的崛起，美国的家具厂商发现他们还要面临更多的竞争。
不过，美国企业在这场交锋中至少赢得了部分胜利，这个裁定对于中国的小型家具厂商而言打击尤为沉重。美国监管部门对中国小型家具厂商制造的卧室家具征收198%的关税，高额关税实际上意味著中国小型家具厂商将退出美国市场。不过，据估计，中国小型家具厂商对美国的出口额仅有2.4亿美元，只占到中国对美国卧室家具出口总额的20%。
全球家具厂商将争先恐后地填补这个市场空白。不过，根据上周五的初步裁决，中国的大型家具厂商对于这个结果已经有了充分的准备，其中的一些甚至在扩大生产能力。
台升木器厂股份有限公司(Lacquer Craft Manufacturing Co., 以下简称：台升公司)驻中国东莞的执行副总裁穆哈麦德?阿米尼(Mohamad Amini)表示，中国企业的市场占有率根本不会因为这个关税裁决而下降。他表示，他所在的公司对于初步裁定确实感到满意。
总的来说，美国监管部门拟议对中国家具厂商征收9种不同的关税。对中国的7家大型企业征收各不相同的关税，其中的5家躲过了被征收相对高额关税的厄运。以台升公司为例，该公司被征收的关税仅有4.9%。这意味著如果一家美国零售商希望从台升公司进口一套价值为500美元的卧室家具，这家零售商将为此支付24.50美元的进口关税。而按照行业内的标准售价，这套家具在美国市场上的零售价在1,000美元左右。阿米尼表示，台升公司将在今年的剩余时间里争取把公司被征收的关税降为零。
美国监管部门还对另外82家中国家具厂商制定了一套统一的关税。不过，这个仅有10.9%的关税税率再次令提起反垄断诉讼的美国家具企业感到失望。（并不是所有的美国家具制造商都支持对中国同行征收高额进口关税。）
American Furniture Warehouse的杰克?雅布斯(Jake Jabs)表示，这个初步裁定让他著实松了一口气。
美国监管部门对剩余的中国家具厂商征收的关税幅度最高。其中的大部分厂商都是小型企业，而且并没有对美国的贸易调查做出回应。根据美国贸易法对定价方面的规定，美国监管部门对这些企业征收的关税幅度为198%。许多美国家具厂商认为，中国的小型家具企业更有可能得到了各级政府的扶植，而大型企业以私营企业为主，并且大多是台湾投资兴建的企业。
台升公司就是一家台资企业。该公司的管理层长期以来一直在说服美国监管部门，让他们相信公司是一家按市场经济规律经营的企业。为了让美国监管部门相信这一点，台升公司主要是从美国进口木材。该公司还表示，它为进口原材料支付的是公开市场上的价格。
诚然，由于家具价格的小幅上涨以及长达6个月的形势不明朗，提起反垄断诉讼的美国家具厂商可能会获得新订单。再加上过去几年来一直被进口产品压得喘不过气来，获得新订单就犹如久旱逢甘霖一样及时。
扮演反垄断诉讼先锋角色的Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co.的管理人士道格?巴塞特(Doug Bassett)表示，公司当然乐于见到调高对中国企业征收的关税，不过，这只不过是一个起点而已。
值得那些提起反垄断诉讼的美国企业感到欣慰的是，美国的监管部门至少对所有的中国家具厂商都征收了一定幅度的关税。在今后6至8个月的裁决审议期间，美国还有可能进一步上调对中国家具厂商征收的关税幅度。最终裁定具有追溯效力，可追溯至中国本月出口的家具。代表美国家具厂商的律师乔?多恩(Joe Dorn)表示，初步裁决让人感到满意之处在于它将涉案的所有中国企业全都一网打尽。
