ITC votes to continue antidumping investigation.A unanimous U.S. International Trade Commission vote paved the way Jan. 9 for an in-depth investigation into allegations that China has dumped wood bedroom furniture in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , harming the domestic industry. All six ITC ITC (Brit) n abbr (= Independent Television Commission) → Fernseh-Aufsichtsgremium ITC n abbr (BRIT) (= Independent Television Commission) → commissioners agreed there is "a reasonable indication" of material harm. The U.S. Department of Commerce will investigate claims of dumping. It will make a preliminary antidumping an·ti·dump·ing adj. Intended to discourage importation and sale of foreign-made goods at prices substantially below domestic prices for the same items. determination on May 5, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. government officials. Import duties could follow and be in place as early as spring. An antidumping petition, filed Oct. 31 by the American Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade, initiated the process. The coalition of furnituremakers, which has been bolstered by the support of five labor unions, seeks import duties ranging from 158% to 441% on Chinese wood bedroom furniture. The unions are: California's Local 721 of the Cabinetmakers, Millmen and industrial Carpenters; Local 2305 of the UBC UBC Uniform Building Code UBC University of British Columbia UBC Union of the Baltic Cities UBC United Brotherhood of Carpenters UBC Universal Battery Charger UBC Union of Baltic Cities UBC Universal Bibliographic Control UBC Used Beverage Cans Southern Council of industrial Workers of MS; the United Steel Workers of America Local 193 of PA; Arizona's Local 2093, of the Carpenters Industrial Union; and the Teamsters Teamsters large, powerful union of U. S. truckers. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 2703] See : Labor , Chauffers, Warehousemen and Helpers Local 991 of AL. As the Jan. 9 decision was announced, members of the Furniture Retailers Group warned of ill consequences to the petition. The group is composed of more than 60 furniture retailers who said their businesses would suffer because the cost of Chinese imports would increase. They said consumers would stop buying Chinese wood bedroom furniture and retail jobs would be lost. Mike Veitenheimer, FRG spokesperson and vice president and legal counsel for Ft. Worth, TX-based The Bombay Co., also said there would be product shortages. He denounced the petition. "The petition is a brazen bra·zen adj. 1. Marked by flagrant and insolent audacity. See Synonyms at shameless. 2. Having a loud, usually harsh, resonant sound: "sudden brazen clashes of the soldiers' band" and hypocritical attempt by some domestic furniture companies to use the U.S. government to manipulate the bedroom furniture market in their favor, at the expense of American consumers and independent furniture retail stores," Veitenheimer said. |
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