China said Nov. 11 it opposes to planned U.S. duties on Chinese bedroom furniture imports despite the U.S. Department of Commerce having removed many of the tariffs on several producers.
In a statement on its Web site, the commerce ministry called on the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to arrive at an "objective and fair" final ruling. It insisted that China's furniture industry was fully market-oriented, with most companies privately owned or partnered with foreign companies.
U.S. anti-dumping tariffs are unfair because Washington, D.C., uses third country prices to determine whether Chinese companies are dumping products in the U.S., which often results in negative rulings on mainland exports, the ministry said.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department agreed to lower some of the planned anti-dumping duties, but some 35% of Chinese imports will still be subject to the initial duties laid out in June, which ran as high as 198%.
A final review by the ITC is expected by Dec. 20.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004
