China Wooden Bedroom Furniture: Fire Truck and Princess Castle Beds w/ Metal Frames Subject to AD Duties
Dorel Industries' Children’s beds with metal frames but a covering of wooden panels are within the scope of the antidumping duty order on wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890), said the Commerce Department in a final scope ruling. Although the beds are classified as metal furniture in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, the wood panels, which make the bed look like a fire truck or princess castle, are extensively used and integral components, and as such bring the beds within the language of the scope, Commerce said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
The Imagination Junior Loft bed imported by Dorel is a twin-sized metal loft bed with composite wood panels attached that make it look like a fire truck or princess castle. The wooden panels encircle the area below the raised loft bed and parts of the bed itself, creating a self-contained play area, which includes wooden benches on which a child may sit. The metal frames and wood panels are always imported as a unit, Dorel said. The beds enter under HTS subheading 9403.20.0018 (“Other furniture and parts thereof: Other metal furniture: Household; Other”).
Dorel argued its left bed is different from other beds covered by the order, because the structure is metal and the wood panels are decorative and positioned below the bed, so don’t add any functionality as a bed. If the wood panels were removed, the product would remain a metal loft bed, said Dorel.
Commerce looked at the language of the scope, which includes “bedroom furniture made substantially of wood products … with or without non-wood components or trim such as metal … .” In past scope rulings, Commerce has defined “substantially made of wood” as meaning the product (1) extensively uses wood, and (2) the wood is integral to the composition of the product.
Dorel’s bed extensively uses wood, Commerce said. And the wood is integral to the composition of Dorel's bed: if the panels were removed, the product would become simply a metal loft bed instead of a fire truck bed or a princess castle bed, it said. So Dorel's Imagination Junior Loft Bed is subject to antidumping duties under the wooden bedroom furniture from China AD duty order, Commerce said.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the scope ruling.