U.S. bed manufacturers lose sleep over softwood dispute

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No softwood tariffs, please, we're American bed makers.

U.S. manufacturers that use wooden bed-frame components are asking the U.S. Department of Commerce to exempt those type of products from duties imposed on Canadian softwood-lumber shipments.

The frame-and-mattress makers south of the border are tossing and turning because of preliminary countervailing duties on Canadian lumber averaging nearly 20 per cent.

The U.S. duties will lead to higher prices for bed frames and disrupt wood supplies from Canada, say bed-industry executives, who forecast a ripple effect that will trigger shrinking demand for mattresses and box springs. They are sounding the alarm about the risk of sagging sales of bed sets to U.S. consumers.

The Trump administration has placed most of the spotlight on two-by-fours and other lumber material from Canada sold for U.S. residential housing construction and renovation projects. But there are also other Canadian wood exports being whacked by the U.S. tariffs, affecting items such as boards for unassembled pallets, components for bed frames and even fence pickets.

In letters to the Commerce Department, U.S. bed manufacturers complain that they have become collateral damage in the trade war.

Cotton Belt, Inc., which owns Sleepworthy Bedding, employs more than 100 workers at its North Carolina factory to produce mattresses and bed bases (also known as bed foundations).

"Critical materials I need to operate my U.S. manufacturing business are wooden bed-frame components that I use to make foundations. They are made from softwood lumber imported from Canada," said Stephen Walter, vice-president at Sleepworthy Bedding, based in Pinetops, N.C. "Manufacturing of mattresses and box springs is one of the few manufacturing jobs in the furniture segment left in the United States. Our industry employs tens of thousands of Americans today."

Another bed maker, White Dove Mattress Ltd. of Ohio, said in a similar letter that the softwood-lumber dispute threatens jobs in the bed business in communities across the United States.

"If we cannot make foundations because our supply is interrupted, or we must substantially increase our price for foundations because of the extra duties, many American consumers will be discouraged from buying the new mattress/foundation set they need," said Bruce Goodman, president of White Dove, whose factory employs 80 workers.

Mr. Goodman sang the praises of Canadian softwood, citing the ideal characteristics for making framing materials: "The technical requirements for these materials requires that they be made from wood that has small knots and fine grain – characteristics that are found only with softwood species like spruce, pine and fir grown in colder climates like those found in Canada."

Tempur-Pedic Management LLC, which employs 300 people at its Kentucky plant, echoed the sentiment in the co-ordinated letter-writing campaign: "Disruption, even if temporary, will eliminate jobs in the U.S. and damage the financial stability of the U.S. mattress manufacturing base."

Many U.S. customers say that, depending on the species and region where trees are grown, bed-frame components derived from Canadian-grown coniferous trees may be less susceptible to squeaking, snapping or warping, compared with lumber from the southern United States.

A group led by the U.S. Lumber Coalition supports the American bed industry's request for an exemption from the duties that took effect on April 28 against Canadian lumber producers.

That influential U.S. industry group is named COALITION, which stands for Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations Or Negotiations.

In an April 3 submission to the Commerce Department, COALITION said bed-frame components should be "specifically excluded from the scope" of duties imposed on Canadian softwood shipments.

A ruling on potential exemptions, including the request from the frame-and-mattress sector, is expected to be made by the department when it makes final determinations on countervailing and anti-dumping duties in the fall.

The long-running trade war over softwood lumber dates back to 1982.

Richard Garneau, chief executive officer of Montreal-based Resolute Forest Products Inc., said the United States has a shortage of domestic lumber and needs Canadian softwood, no matter whether it is for housing or bed frames.

"Even though we have trade barriers at this point, they need our wood," Mr. Garneau said in an interview.

The United States has slapped a preliminary countervailing-duty rate of 12.82 per cent on Resolute, which is the fourth-largest producer of softwood in Canada. The bulk of Canadian lumber exporters are paying a weighted average tariff of 19.88 per cent.

"We should basically have zero" tariffs, Mr. Garneau said.

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