Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., has called on the Obama administration to strengthen its enforcement of laws designed to combat unfair trade practices used by Chinese companies that harm American furniture manufacturers.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on October 5, Webb noted the concerns of furniture producers in Virginia about Chinese furniture companies evading duties. According to U.S. furniture companies, an estimated $82 million in antidumping duties was left uncollected in 2011 alone.
“The furniture industry in Virginia and across the country has been devastated by unfair trade practices for many years,” said Webb, who has repeatedly expressed concerns about the impact of China’s unfair trade policies and first raised concerns about uncollected duties on Chinese furniture in June 2010.
“American manufacturers and their workers deserve the protections to which they are legally entitled. The Department of Homeland Security should work to investigate these practices, put a stop to fraudulent activities, and collect outstanding duties.”
In October 2010, Webb supported extending the antidumping duty order on Chinese wooden furniture, warning that failure to combat China’s unfair trade practices could lead to “the point where the furniture industry in Virginia is only history.” Webb has also supported antidumping duty orders against the Chinese steel industry, which unfairly hurts Virginia businesses like Timken in Altavista.
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