Furniture Trade Deficit Approaches $9 billion as China Moves Closer to Becoming the Top Furniture Importer to U.S.

THE FURNITURE trade deficit between the United States and foreign countries keeps growing wider and it appears that there is no clear end in sight, according to figures from the U.S Dept. of Commerce.

For example, in 1995 the United States imported nearly $3.5 billion more furniture than it exported. By 1999, that gap had more than doubled to $7.3 billion.

In the first half of this year, the United States imported $4.2 billion more furniture than it exported. By extrapolating that figure through the remainder of 2000, the furniture trade deficit will have grown by more than $1 billion dollars in just 12 months to $8.3 billion. Looking at it another way, if the projected trade deficit of $8.3 billion were converted into kitchen chairs valued at $60 each, then the deficit would total nearly 140 million chairs.

Nearly 49 percent of all the furniture imported into the United States in the first half of this year came from two countries -- Canada and China. Together, they accounted for $2.36 billion of the $4.85 billion total furniture imports to the United States in the first six months of 2000.

In addition, Canada, long the top furniture importer to the United States, could be surpassed by China by the end of 2001. Trailing Canada by just over $600 million in furniture exports to the United States in 1998, China closed the gap to under $400 million in 1999. For the first six months of 2000, China trails by $111 million. If the trend continues, China will overtake Canada and become the chief importer of furniture into the United States by the fourth quarter of 2001.