Chinese mattresses exported to the U.S. could face 1,731.75 percent provisional tariffs following a U.S. Department of Commerce May 29 announcement, following an antidumping duty investigation on imports from China.
In 2017, the U.S. imported $437 million worth of child and adult mattresses from China, the department said in a news release.
The Commerce Department assigned tariff rates of 38.56 percent and 84.64 percent respectively on Healthcare Co. and Zinus (Xiamen). This applies to all the mattresses China's largest mattress makers produce in China. All the other Chinese exporters face tariffs of up to 1,731.75 percent.
The tariff may not have much impact, however. Healthcare Co. told Urethanes Technology International: "We are not expecting significant impact. We've already moved most of the related production to our plants in Thailand and Serbia."
The Commerce Department's investigation started in October 2018. It followed petitions by U.S. mattress producers such as Corsicana, Elite Comfort Solutions and Serta Simmons.
"To determine the 1,731.75 percent rate, we followed our normal practice and relied on the highest rate in the petition as adverse facts available," the department said in a news release. The value of products from Malaysia were used for the department's benchmark price.
The provisional tariffs will take effect by Oct. 11.