Beijing – Chinese mattresses exported to the US could face 1,731.75% provisional tariffs at the border with the US following a US Department of Commerce’s announcement on May 29.
The DOC has assigned tariff rates of 38.56% and 84.64% 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% .
The investigation started in October 2018. It followed petitions by US mattress producers such as Corsicana, Elite Comfort Solutions and Serta Simmons. The value of China's mattress exports to the US in 2017 was $437m, the DoC announcement said.
‘To determine the 1,731.75% rate, we followed our normal practice and relied on the highest rate in the petition as adverse facts available,’ the announcement explained. The value of products from Malaysia were the DoC's benchmark price.
The provisional tariffs came into effect 90 days before the DoC's preliminary determination was published. The DoC is scheduled to announce its final determinations by 11 October, 2019.
