Importer's Furniture Isn't Excluded From AD Order on Chinese Bedroom Furniture, Commerce Says

The models of furniture described in the ruling are: three wooden side tables, called the Naples Side Table, the Leroy Side Table and the Persela Side Table; two wooden cabinets, called the Naples Tall Cabinet and the Leroy Tall Cabinet; and a tall wooden dresser and a low wooden dresser, called, respectively, the Naples Dresser and the Leroy Dresser. The Naples Side Table has a stainless steel base and the Leroy Cabinet includes a flip-up mirror.

Moe’s Home Collection argued that the products were accent furniture, not bedroom furniture. The Leroy Collection includes a dining room table, and the Persela side table is a stand-alone piece of furniture, it said. Although the products were depicted in marketing as bedroom furniture, they also were depicted elsewhere, it said. Further, marketing wasn't the only factor under consideration, it said.

The importer also argued that the products’ storage capacities were insufficient for holding clothing and its side tables were too short to be considered typical nightstands. Finally, it said its products were finished on all four sides, unlike most bedroom furniture.

The petitioners that originally requested the wooden bedroom furniture duties opposed the scope ruling request, arguing Moe’s Home Collection catalogues and its website identify the “side tables” as “nightstands” and the “tall cabinets” as “dressers.” Commerce agreed, saying it only found references to the products in question in “bedroom” categories.

“Although Moe’s Home Collection included photographs of the Naples and Leroy pieces of wide case furniture behind sofas and the Naples piece of small case furniture next to a sofa in its Scope Ruling Application, we did not find photographs of the Naples and Leroy pieces of wide case furniture nor the Naples piece of small case furniture next to a sofa in any of the catalogues submitted by Moe’s Home Collection,” it said.

Sideboards, end tables, and side tables were explicitly excluded from the AD order, Commerce said. Dressers and nightstands were explicitly covered, as were chiffoniers. The tall Leroy could be considered a chiffonier because it had a mirror, and mirrors are commonly associated with bedroom furniture, it said.

Commerce said the products’ dimensions were adequate for them to be considered bedroom furniture. The scope of the AD order did not specify dimensions in any of its definitions, Commerce said. However, the International Trade Commission, in its underlying injury investigation to establish the duty, included photographs in its final determination that were “physically consistent” in shape, structure and size with the products now in question, it said.

Commerce also disagreed with Moe’s Home Collection’s claim that the furniture was excluded from AD/CVD because most pieces came in sets not exclusively for bedrooms. Commerce said the products either were explicitly designed for bedroom sets or were designed for multipurpose sets not explicitly intended for use elsewhere.

“Commerce previously found chests in a living room set to be outside of the scope of the Order, since ‘other non-bedroom furniture’ is excluded from the Order,” it said. “In prior scope rulings, Commerce determined whether multipurpose accent furniture that was purportedly made for more than one room in the home was intended and designed as bedroom or non-bedroom furniture by, in part, examining whether the furniture was part of a bedroom or non-bedroom set.”

It also said that the metal bases of several of the products didn't distinguish them from wooden bedroom furniture, either. Nor did the furniture's glossy four-sided finish, it said.

“Decorative characteristics that distinguish non-bedroom furniture from bedroom furniture should involve something more -- an embellishment, beyond a minimum surface treatment, which increases the ornateness of the furniture piece or which gives the furniture piece a unique style such as surfaces with mirrored glass, upholstered material, metal cladding, or graphic designs,” it said.