Furniture Retailers of America (FRA)

	Join FRA now and help stop your duties from increasing. Read
• View FRA's Spring 2004 advertising campaign.

View photos from special briefings at the International Furniture Market:

View photos from FRA briefings at the International Furniture Market:
October 14th
April 22nd

The Furniture Retailers of America (FRA) was formed to protect our customers from a group of domestic furniture manufacturers who are seeking to restrict consumer access to affordable high quality wooden bedroom furniture by filing an anti-dumping petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission. The petition against wooden bedroom furniture from China is an attempt by these manufacturers to use U.S. trade law to essentially control the marketplace. The FRA believes that trade laws should not be abused to the detriment of American consumers who will face price disruptions, fewer choices and risk quality on bedroom sets — a staple in nearly every American home.

The Furniture Trade Case
and the Byrd Amendment

Timetable for Antidumping
Duty Investigation

The Furniture Retailers of America (FRA) is made up of many large and small retail companies throughout the U.S. — many of whom sell wooden bedroom products purchased from domestic producers, China and other sources in order to meet the needs of American consumers. FRA members include such well-known and respected companies as: Rooms To Go, JCPenney's, Havertys, Crate & Barrel, The Bombay Company, City Furniture, Rhodes Furniture, and other national, regional and small retailers.

FRA Membership List

From Cato Institute Study "Poster Child for Reform:
The Antidumping Case on Bedroom Furniture from China":

"The case of Wooden Bedroom Furniture from China has nothing to do with unfair trade and is a perfect example of the need for antidumping reform. The filing of this case was a tactical maneuver by one group of domestic producers that seeks to exploit the gaping loopholes of the antidumping law to get a leg up on its domestic competition."

To read more of the report,
visit www.freetrade.org.

ITC Injury Vote on Chinese Wooden Bedroom Furniture Amounts to Needless Tax on American Consumers.
12/10/04 Read

Duties on Chinese Wooden Bedroom Furniture Reduced; Proof that Domestic Industry is not Being Injured. 11/09/04 Read

Mirrors Belong in the Bedroom — and Should be Taxed, Says Department of Commerce. 08/12/04 Read

Press releases archive

Chicago Tribune, letter to the editor by FRA member: "Dumping Laws Mean Higher Prices For Consumers". 07/10/04 Read

June 9th Wall Street Journal Editorial on the Bedroom
Furniture Case:
"All of this has nothing to do with bringing low-wage factory jobs back to the U.S. Those jobs are gone for good — to Vietnam, if not to China. The furniture dumping suit is a classic Beltway game of greasing a squeaky wheel ..." More

Read “Furniture Follies” from the Rushford Report. 02/04

Read Excerpt from Wall Street Journal revealing the hypocrisy of U.S. petitioners in their relationship with Chinese manufacturers. 01/30/04

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: CHINESE BEDROOM FURNITURE IMPORTS AND THE U.S. FURNITURE INDUSTRY

In October 2003, a group of U.S. furniture manufacturers filed a petition with the International Trade Commission (ITC) claiming that a “flood” of Chinese bedroom furniture imports have caused them injury. The ITC and Department of Commerce (DOC) are now investigating the petitioners’ claims.

Import data and ITC testimony reveal the long-standing relationship between the U.S. wooden bedroom furniture industry and China’s nascent furniture industry. More

On Friday, January 9, 2004 the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that there is a "reasonable indication" that domestic producers of wooden bedroom furniture have been "materially injured" as a result of imports from China. The petitioners are seeking duties as high as 440% on imports of wooden bedroom furniture, which, in turn, could cause retail stores m ajor supply disruptions, and their customers short term price volatility, as well as limit their access to affordable wooden bedroom sets. More

ITC, furniture, free trade, import duties

For Membership Inquiries:
Michael Veitenheimer
The Bombay Co.
Tel. 817-347-8244

For Press Inquiries:
George Felcyn
The PBN Company
Tel. 202-466-6210
Fax: 202-466-6205