Letter to the Hon. David S. Johanson, Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission - Brown urges Trade Commission to side with American workers in antidumping investigation into mattresses imported from China

Letter

Dear Chairman Johanson:

We are writing to respectfully request your careful and thorough examination of the facts and evidence pertaining to the antidumping investigation of mattresses imported from China.

The nine petitioners in this investigation, Corsicana Mattress, Elite Comfort Solutions, Future Foam, FXI, Innocor, Kolcraft, Leggett & Platt, Serta Simmons Bedding, and Tempur Sealy International, have been manufacturing mattresses in the United States for more than 100 years. Around the country, more than 12,000 workers are employed in mattress manufacturing. Only in recent years have the petitioning companies, and other U.S. manufacturers, found themselves at a severe competitive disadvantage due to Chinese imports being sold at less than fair market value in violation of U.S. trade laws. Moreover, because the majority of mattress manufacturing inputs -- including textiles, foam, and innersprings -- are also produced in the United States, the dumping of Chinese mattresses inflicts adverse consequences on additional domestic industries.

We are grateful for the Commission's November 1, 2018 preliminary determination in favor of the domestic industry and for the preliminary duties that have been applied to the subject imports. These rates currently range from 69.30 -- 1,731.75 percent. In addition, given the surge in imports that followed the filing of the petition, the imposition of critical circumstances will be crucial to providing full relief to domestic producers. We were pleased the Department of Commerce determined there were critical circumstances in this case, and we are hopeful the Commission will reach the same conclusion in its final determination.

Since the preliminary determination was issued, imports of unfairly dumped mattresses from China have dropped. As a result, some domestic manufacturers have been able to bring shuttered capacity back online and to hire new employees. Despite this preliminary relief, however, U.S. producers are still operating at lower levels than in 2016, when the subject imports began to appear in increasing quantities. A final affirmative determination from the Commission will ensure the preliminary relief is continued and is necessary for the domestic industry to recover more fully from the dumped imports.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your efforts to ensure that our trade laws are fairly and objectively implemented.