American Mattress Manufacturers File Antidumping Duty Petition Against Unfairly Traded Mattresses from China

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Corsicana Mattress Company, Elite Comfort Solutions, Future Foam Inc., FXI, Inc., Innocor, Inc., Kolcraft Enterprises Inc., Leggett & Platt, Incorporated, Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC, and Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (collectively, the "Mattress Petitioners") today filed an antidumping duty petition demonstrating how unfairly traded imports of foam and innerspring mattresses from China are causing material injury and threat of material injury to the US mattress industry. The petition was filed with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission. The Mattress Petitioners allege dumping margins ranging from 267 percent to over 1,777 percent.  The dumping margin is the difference between the Chinese producers' US prices and a normal value calculated under US trade law.

The companies filed the petition in response to the already significant and rapidly increasing volumes of low-priced, dumped imports from China. Mattress imports from China have surged by an astonishing 218 percent from 2015 to 2017, and continue to increase throughout 2018 according to official US import statistics. By relying on dumped prices, including adult mattresses sold at $18 per mattress, Chinese exporters have captured increasing market share at the expense of the US industry and US jobs. 

Chinese producers are injuring the US industry by selling mattresses at dumped prices that consistently undercut the prices of the US industry. This has had a direct negative impact on the Mattress Petitioners, their employees, and the US industry as a whole. 

The petition establishes the negative impact surging volumes of dumped Chinese imports have caused to US mattress manufacturing jobs and the sales, profitability, production, and investments of the US industry. The companies filing the petition operate over 50 manufacturing plants in more than 20 states, employing over 8,000 individuals in manufacturing related jobs, and estimate that they represent over 50 percent of the US industry. 

The petition seeks the imposition of antidumping duties to offset the level of dumping.  The investigation is expected to take 9-13 months to complete, with a preliminary determination imposing antidumping duty deposits within approximately 6 months. 

The Mattress Petitioners believe this action is essential to ensure that the US mattress industry can compete on a level playing field and to allow for future reinvestment and growth for the entire US industry.  The Mattress Petitioners have retained the law firm of Cassidy Levy Kent (USA) LLP to represent the US industry before the Commerce Department and the USITC.  For additional information please contact Yohai Baisburd at 202-567-2319.

SOURCE The Mattress Petitioners