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Tell Furniture
Retailers not to Boycott American-Made Furniture
Now is the time to make your voice heard to retailers like American
Furniture Warehouse Company and Value City Furniture. Both companies have
said they will no longer buy from furniture makers that have signed the
so-called “anti-dumping petition” that, pending a favorable decision from
the U.S. Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission, could
impose tariffs as high as 250% on Chinese-made furniture.
The anti-dumping petition, which has been led by Vaughan-Bassett
Furniture Company, Hooker Furniture Corp. and La-Z-Boy, Inc., alleges that
China is illegally dumping furniture in the United States. Vaughan-Bassett
vice-president Doug Bassett says that his company has a duty to protect both
American workers and shareholders, and that the only way that the U.S.
Commerce Department and International Trade Commission will agree to the
tariffs is if it can be proven that China is illegally dumping their
furniture in the U.S.
American Furniture Warehouse Company has nine stores across
Colorado and Value City Furniture has 80 stores in the Midwest and on the
East Coast. Both companies have decided that signers of the petition are
companies that they would rather not do business with. Mickey Holliman,
chief executive of Furniture Brands International, which includes Broyhill,
Land and Thomasville brands, is not boycotting signers of the petition but
says he prefers to do business with non-signers, while mentioning his
company plans to keep transferring production and jobs from the U.S. to
China. Representatives from Rooms To Go, Rhodes, Haverty’s and J.C. Penney
have also criticized the petition. And although they aren’t calling for an
outright boycott of petition signers, they prefer to do business with those
companies that have not signed the petition as well.
Furniture industry analyst Jerry Epperson says he thinks the
petition can gain enough momentum to be a success. Some furniture retailer
executives, like Jeff Seaman of Rooms To Go, didn’t think the petition would
go anywhere at first, but is now worried. The injury to the domestic
furniture industry is “very provable and documentable” according to
Epperson. Furthermore, statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor show
that the wood bedroom furniture segment alone has lost 106,000 jobs in the
last four years, and nearly 15% of those job losses have occurred in North
Carolina.
The time to take action is now, before the January 2nd ruling by
the U.S. Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission. You can
email Value City Furniture at VCF.Furnituremaster@vcf.com and tell them you
won’t be setting foot in their stores unless they stop boycotting American
furniture makers and threatening the jobs of the American workers at these
companies. You can of course send your own comments, or you may send an
email similar to the sample provided below. Their website is www.vcf.com. A
website or email address for American Furniture Warehouse Company could not
be located, but their phone number is (303) 799-9044. How ironic they are
located at 8820 American Way in Englewood, CO.
Dear Value City Furniture,
Your boycott of the furniture manufacturers that have signed the
China anti-dumping petition is anti-American and threatens the jobs of
hard-working Americans in the domestic furniture industry. America has
already lost over 100,000 jobs over the last four years in the furniture
industry, and your boycott will only add to those job losses.
I am calling on you to stop boycotting Vaughan-Bassett, Hooker
Furniture and La-Z-Boy and any other signers of the anti-dumping petition,
who are only seeking fair trade and looking out for the interests of their
workers and shareholders. They are looking out for what’s best for America.
Why will you not do the same?
Unless you stop your boycott of the petition signers, I will make
sure I never buy furniture from any of your stores, and will encourage my
friends, co-workers and associates to do the same. I will make sure they
understand you are against Buying American, fair trade, preserving American
living standards, and that you support policies that put more Americans in
unemployment lines.
It is well-documented that furniture imported from China is causing
serious injury to American workers in the domestic furniture industry. Your
reaction to those companies that have signed the anti-dumping petition will
only cause further injury. Stop the boycott now! Be American and Buy
American, or we will not buy your products!
Sincerely,
Your Name
The American furniture industry is but one American industry that
needs to be saved from the jaws of free and unrestricted trade. We need to
make sure those companies who don’t support Buy American policies will not
get our support. Make sure you let them know that you will help them feel it
in the pocketbook where it counts! If all they care about is their bottom
line, let’s help make their bottom line bottom-out!
Roger Simmermaker, Author
How Americans Can Buy American
www.howtobuyamerican.com
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