Europe plans further anti-dumping action

Furniture producers in Europe are pressing for anti-dumping action against China to stem the flow of what they say are unfairly cheap imports, the Financial Times reported. The European Furniture Industry Association looks set to submit a formal anti-dumping complaint to the European Commission citing unfair pricing on a wide range of Chinese-made sofas, as well as office and kitchen chairs. The EFIC claims that non-upholstered swivel seats are a major area of concern, with China’s share of EU imports rising from 9% in 1999 to 48% in 2004. Italy and Germany are responsible for almost half the US$140 billion in furniture produced by the EU each year. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said that, unlike the anti-dumping debate on footwear that divided the producer-oriented countries in Southern Europe from their more liberal northern neighbors, there appeared to be more of a general consensus on furniture.