WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) are applauding the ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce for taking action on antidumping following investigations into mattresses imported from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam, and the subsidy investigation regarding mattresses imported from China. The ruling follows a letter the senators sent to ITC Chairman Jason Kearns urging the Commission to make a thorough examination of the facts and evidence pertaining to the antidumping investigations.
“For too long, trade cheats have shuttered plants across our state, put Ohioans out of work, and distorted global markets,” said Brown. “This ruling is a step in the right direction, affirming our trade remedy laws, and making clear the U.S. takes these harmful practices seriously and will help keep Ohio workers on the job.”
“This ruling is a victory for thousands of American workers, families, and communities,” said Blunt. “I’m glad the International Trade Commission and Department of Commerce are taking action to help protect U.S. manufacturers that haven’t had the same opportunity to compete because of unfair trade practices. I will continue urging the federal government to use every tool available to crack down on trade practices that hurt U.S. companies and workers.”
In recent years, petitioning companies and other U.S. manufacturers have found themselves at a severe competitive disadvantage due to imports being sold at less than fair market value as a result of subsidies from China. These actions are a violation of U.S. trade laws and have also had adverse effects on companies that supply production materials to mattress manufacturers. A final affirmative determination from the ITC ensures preliminary relief for U.S. mattress manufacturers, and more importantly, supports thousands of American workers, families and communities.
Brown and Blunt sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, urging the department to prioritize its efforts to investigate unfair trade practices and rigorously apply all of the antidumping and countervailing laws Congress has made available to Commerce to protect and defend American workers and the industries they power.
As a result of the ITC’s affirmative determination, the Department of Commerce will issue antidumping orders on imports from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam, and a countervailing duty order on imports from China. The seven petitioning U.S. producers and two petitioning unions collectively represent 8,000 workers across Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. And as a whole, the domestic mattress industry supports more than 11,000 hardworking employees at manufacturing facilities, with thousands more workers at manufacturing facilities across the U.S. supporting a predominantly domestic supply chain of steel wire rod, wire, machinery, innersprings, chemicals, foam, and textiles.
More than 12,000 American workers are employed in mattress manufacturing across the country, including 173 workers employed at the Tempur Sealy International plant in Medina and 79 Ohio workers at the North Ridgeville Leggett and Platt facility.
Both Brown and Blunt have been urging the ITC to side with American workers in its antidumping investigation into mattresses imported from China. The senators first sent a bipartisan letter to former ITC Chairman David S. Johanson in October 2019, pressing the ITC to finalize its preliminary decision to side with U.S. mattress manufacturers and workers.
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