China’s overcapacity has led to the massive dumping of low-priced goods overseas, causing losses in related industries globally and raising high levels of concern and attention internationally. The United States, after imposing anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese mattresses, discovered that China was funneling a large quantity of cheap mattresses into the American market through third countries.
Similar to the overcapacity in clean energy technology sectors such as electric vehicles, solar panels, and lithium batteries, China’s surplus production capacity poses a threat to competitive enterprises in the United States and other countries. The influx of these cheap mattresses into the American market has forced domestic companies to abandon the low-price market segment and resort to lay-offs.
The Trump administration has rigorously enforced U.S. trade laws and initiated numerous anti-dumping, anti-subsidy investigations, and sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party. Since 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce has imposed anti-dumping duties on mattresses produced in China, South Africa, and Vietnam, with rates reaching as high as 1732%.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Monday, American retailers and manufacturers suspect some Chinese manufacturers of transporting mattresses through other countries to conceal their country of origin and evade tariffs. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is currently investigating a dozen importers suspected of shipping mattresses to the United States for Foshan Aiyi Household Products Co., a Chinese company selling its products on Amazon’s market and allegedly using South Korea as an intermediary.
On Foshan Aiyi Household Products’ official website, it is stated, “In 2019, in response to the U.S. anti-dumping measures, we invested significantly in building a 35,000-square-meter factory in Vietnam.” However, in the same year, the U.S. also began imposing anti-dumping tariffs on mattresses produced in Vietnam.
On February 16, CBP issued notices to the investigated importers alleging that there were reasons to suspect that the importers were using Korea as a transshipment point to import mattresses and avoid relevant duties. Consequently, CBP has implemented temporary measures to conduct further investigations.
The documents indicated that Foshan Aiyi is a Chinese company with “numerous mattress brand trademarks available in the U.S.,” with as many as ten English trademarks openly accessible.
In the CBP report, it was mentioned that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) data showed a “significant increase” in mattress imports from Korea starting from April 2023. The import quantity surged from 8,493 in March 2023 to 21,842 in April 2023 (a 157% increase), and nearly tripled to 64,676 in May 2023 (a 661% increase within two months). By August 2023, the total number of mattresses imported from Korea was 95,846—a 1028% increase since March.
Industry experts familiar with Korea’s mattress production capacity provided affidavits during CBP’s investigation, explaining that based on their knowledge of the Korean market, there was no mattress manufacturing business capable of supporting the recent surge in U.S. imports.
With the influx of a large quantity of low-priced mattresses from China and other low-cost producers into the American market, U.S. domestic companies have seen a decline in sales, market share reduction, and have been forced to lay off employees and even declare bankruptcy.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a representative from Serta Simmons, one of the largest mattress manufacturers in the U.S., stated at a May hearing of the International Trade Commission that cheap imports exacerbated the company’s struggles in a sluggish market. Since 2018, the company has halved its factory workforce, currently employing only 2,000 staff members. Serta Simmons filed for bankruptcy protection in 2023.