Mattresses From Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan: Antidumping Duty Orders

AGENCY:

Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY:

Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing antidumping duty orders on mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan.

DATES:

Applicable July 11, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christopher Hargett (Bosnia and Herzegovina); T.J. Worthington (Bulgaria); Adam Simons (Burma and Taiwan); Adam Simons and Caroline Carroll (Italy); Sun Cho (the Philippines); Dakota Potts (Poland); and Andrew Hart (Slovenia), AD/CVD Operations, Offices II, III, IV, V, and IX Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4161, (202) 482-4567, (202) 482-6172, (202) 482-4948, (202) 482-6458, (202) 482-0223, or (202) 482-1058, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On May 15, 2024, Commerce published in the Federal Register its affirmative final determinations in the less-than-fair-value (LTFV) investigations of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan. On June 28, 2024, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determinations, pursuant to section 735(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), that an industry in the United States is materially injured within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act by reason of LTFV imports of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan.

Scope of the Orders

The products covered by these orders are mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan. For a complete description of the scope of these orders, see the appendix to this notice.

Antidumping Duty Orders

On July 5, 2024, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, the ITC published in the Federal Register its final determinations in these investigations, in which it found that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of imports of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan. Therefore, in accordance with sections 735(c)(2) and 736 of the Act, Commerce is issuing these antidumping duty orders. Because the ITC determined that imports of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment of antidumping duties.

Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price (or constructed export price) of the merchandise, for all relevant entries of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan. With the exception of entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations, as further described below, antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after March 1, 2024, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determinations. As further described below, antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of mattresses from Burma entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after December 2, 2023, which is 90 days prior to the date of publication of the Burma Preliminary Determination.

Critical Circumstances

With respect to the ITC's negative critical circumstances determination on imports of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, the Philippines, and Taiwan, we will instruct CBP to lift suspension and to refund any cash deposits made to secure the payment of estimated antidumping duties with respect to entries of the subject merchandise from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, the Philippines, and Taiwan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after December 2, 2023 ( i.e., 90 days prior to the date of the publication of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Preliminary Determination, Italy Preliminary Determination, Philippines Preliminary Determination, and Taiwan Preliminary Determination), but before March 1, 2024 ( i.e., the date of publication of the Preliminary Determinations).

Regarding Burma, the ITC found that critical circumstances exist with respect to imports subject to Commerce's affirmative critical circumstances finding within the meaning of section 735(b)(4)(A) of the Act. As a result of Commerce's affirmative critical circumstances determination under section 735(a)(3) of the Act, and the ITC's affirmative critical circumstances determination under section 735(b)(4)(A) of the Act, retroactive duties will be applied to the relevant imports for a period of 90 days prior to the suspension of liquidation. Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce will direct CBP to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price (or constructed export price) of the merchandise for all relevant entries of mattresses from Burma. Antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of mattresses from Burma for Glory Home Myanmar Limited, Glory (Hong Kong) Business Limited, and all other producers and exporters of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after December 2, 2023, which is 90 days prior to the date of publication of the Burma Preliminary Determination, in accordance with the critical circumstances finding in the Burma Final Determination. Antidumping duties will not be assessed on any entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations, as further described below.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits

Except as noted in the “Provisional Measures” section of this notice, in accordance with section 736 of the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation on all relevant entries of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan. These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.

Commerce will also instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the estimated dumping margins indicated in the tables below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication in the Federal Register of the notice of the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations, CBP will require, at the same time as importers would normally deposit estimated duties on subject merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the rates listed below. The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed, as appropriate.

Provisional Measures

Section 733(d) of the Act states that suspension of liquidation pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four months, except where exporters representing a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise request that Commerce extend the four-month period to no more than six months. None of the exporters of mattresses requested Commerce to extend the four-month period to six months in these investigations.

The provisional measures period, beginning on the date of publication of the Preliminary Determinations, ended on June 28, 2024. Therefore, in accordance with section 733(d) of the Act and our practice, Commerce will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, unliquidated entries of mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption after June 28, 2024, the final day on which the provisional measures were in effect, until and through the day preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determinations in the Federal Register . Suspension of liquidation and the collection of cash deposits will resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determinations in the Federal Register .

Estimated Dumping Margins

The estimated dumping margins are as follows:

Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service Lists

On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the final rule titled “ Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws ” in the Federal Register . On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the notice titled “ Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions ” in the Federal Register . The Final Rule and Procedural Guidance provide that Commerce will maintain an annual inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same country of origin.

In accordance with the Procedural Guidance, for orders published in the Federal Register after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at https://access.trade.gov, within five business days of publication of the notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type called “AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.”

Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30 days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days thereafter. As mentioned in the Procedural Guidance, the new annual inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when the Opportunity Notice for the anniversary month of the order is published.

Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the ACCESS website at https://access.trade.gov.

Special Instructions for Petitioners and Foreign Governments

In the Final Rule, Commerce stated that, “after an initial request and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry service list in the years that follow.” Accordingly, as stated above, the petitioners and foreign governments should submit their initial entry of appearance after publication of this notice in order to appear in the first annual inquiry service list for those orders for which they qualify as an interested party. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioners and foreign governments will not need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to be included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioners and foreign governments are responsible for making amendments to their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.

Notification to Interested Parties

This notice constitutes the antidumping duty orders with respect to mattresses from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, and Taiwan pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of antidumping duty orders currently in effect at https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/adcvd-proceedings.

These antidumping duty orders are published in accordance with section 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).

Appendix

Scope of the Orders

The products covered by these orders are all types of youth and adult mattresses. The term “mattress” denotes an assembly of materials that at a minimum includes a “core,” which provides the main support system of the mattress, and may consist of innersprings, foam, other resilient filling, or a combination of these materials. Mattresses also may contain: (1) “upholstery,” the material between the core and the top panel of the ticking on a single-sided mattress, or between the core and the top and bottom panel of the ticking on a double-sided mattress; and/or (2) “ticking,” the outermost layer of fabric or other material ( e.g., vinyl) that encloses the core and any upholstery, also known as a cover.

The scope of these orders is restricted to only “adult mattresses” and “youth mattresses.” “Adult mattresses” are frequently described as “twin,” “extra-long twin,” “full,” “queen,” “king,” or “California king” mattresses. “Youth mattresses” are typically described as “crib,” “toddler,” or “youth” mattresses. All adult and youth mattresses are included regardless of size and size description or how they are described ( e.g., frameless futon mattress and tri-fold mattress).

The scope encompasses all types of “innerspring mattresses,” “non-innerspring mattresses,” and “hybrid mattresses.” “Innerspring mattresses” contain innersprings, a series of metal springs joined together in sizes that correspond to the dimensions of mattresses. Mattresses that contain innersprings are referred to as “innerspring mattresses” or “hybrid mattresses.” “Hybrid mattresses” contain two or more support systems as the core, such as layers of both memory foam and innerspring units.

“Non-innerspring mattresses” are those that do not contain any innerspring units. They are generally produced from foams ( e.g., polyurethane, memory (viscoelastic), latex foam, gel infused viscoelastic (gel foam), thermobonded polyester, polyethylene) or other resilient filling.

Mattresses covered by the scope of these orders may be imported independently, as part of furniture or furniture mechanisms ( e.g., convertible sofa bed mattresses, sofa bed mattresses imported with sofa bed mechanisms, corner group mattresses, day-bed mattresses, roll-away bed mattresses, high risers, trundle bed mattresses, crib mattresses), or as part of a set (in combination with a “mattress foundation”). “Mattress foundations” are any base or support for a mattress. Mattress foundations are commonly referred to as “foundations,” “boxsprings,” “platforms,” and/or “bases.” Bases can be static, foldable, or adjustable. Only the mattress is covered by the scope if imported as part of furniture, with furniture mechanisms, or as part of a set, in combination with a mattress foundation.

Excluded from the scope of these orders are “futon” mattresses. A “futon” is a bi-fold frame made of wood, metal, or plastic material, or any combination thereof, that functions as both seating furniture (such as a couch, love seat, or sofa) and a bed. A “futon mattress” is a tufted mattress, where the top covering is secured to the bottom with thread that goes completely through the mattress from the top through to the bottom, and it does not contain innersprings or foam. A futon mattress is both the bed and seating surface for the futon. Also excluded from the scope are airbeds (including inflatable mattresses) and waterbeds, which consist of air- or liquid-filled bladders as the core or main support system of the mattress.

Also excluded is certain multifunctional furniture that is convertible from seating to sleeping, regardless of filler material or components, where such filler material or components are upholstered, integrated into the design and construction of, and inseparable from, the furniture framing, and the outermost layer of the multifunctional furniture converts into the sleeping surface. Such furniture may, and without limitation, be commonly referred to as “convertible sofas,” “sofabeds,” “sofa chaise sleepers,” “futons,” “ottoman sleepers,” or a like description.

Also excluded from the scope of these orders are any products covered by the existing antidumping duty orders on uncovered innerspring units from the People's Republic of China, South Africa, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. See Uncovered Innerspring Units from the People's Republic of China, South Africa, and Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Continuation of Antidumping Duty Orders,84 FR 55285 (October 16, 2019).

Also excluded from the scope of these orders are bassinet pads with a nominal length of less than 39 inches, a nominal width of less than 25 inches, and a nominal depth of less than 2 inches.

Additionally, also excluded from the scope of these orders are “mattress toppers.” A “mattress topper” is a removable bedding accessory that supplements a mattress by providing an additional layer that is placed on top of a mattress. Excluded mattress toppers have a height of four inches or less.

Also excluded from the scope are the following hospital and patient care setting surfaces. Products that fall within the below categories and meet all the exclusion factors in the respective category qualify for such exclusion, regardless of whether they may be referenced as a mattress.

Air Surfaces with all of the following characteristics: with the foot end comprised of either die-cut construction foam or air bladders to allow extension and retraction of the surface; enclosed in a fluid-resistant polyurethane-coated ticking with a zipper; with welded seams on the ticking, which are two or more layers of coated material thermally fused together with a permanent bond; with the core including air bladders, with or without foam inside; with a unique device identifier label for medical devices issued by an FDA-accredited agency and listed in the FDA-administered Global Unique Device Identification Database.

Stretcher Surfaces with all of the following characteristics: with a nominal thickness of 5 inches or less; with the foam core width tapered at one end; enclosed in a fluid-resistant polyurethane-coated ticking with a zipper; with welded seams on the ticking, which are two or more layers of coated material thermally fused together with a permanent bond; with the exterior of the ticking containing a welded flap to cover the ticking zipper; with loop velcro attached to the ticking to allow for the stretcher surface to be firmly affixed to the stretcher; with a unique device identifier label for medical devices issued by an FDA-accredited agency and listed in the FDA-administered Global Unique Device Identification Database.

Birthing Bed Surfaces with all of the following characteristics: with a nominal thickness of 5 inches or less; with a foam core in two pieces that have either a V-shaped cutout or U-Shaped cutout; enclosed in a fluid-resistant polyurethane-coated ticking with a zipper; with welded seams on the ticking, which are two or more layers of coated material thermally fused together with a permanent bond; with attachment fasteners extending from the bottom of the surface comprised of snaps or plastic hook(s); with a unique device identifier label for medical devices issued by an FDA-accredited agency and listed in the FDA-administered Global Unique Device Identification Database.

Foam Surfaces with all the following characteristics: with a nominal thickness of 6.5 inches or less; with a foam core that has articulation lines cut into the foam and/or die-cut construction in a portion of the foam to allow movement of the surface; enclosed in a fluid-resistant polyurethane-coated ticking with a zipper; with the ticking made of material meeting ASTM F1671B-07 requirements for porosity and ISO 10993 requirements for biocompatibility; with welded seams on the ticking, which are two or more layers of coated material thermally fused together with a permanent bond; with brackets or attachment knobs embedded in the surface core to allow the surface to be firmly affixed to the hospital bed frame; with a unique device identifier label for medical devices issued by an FDA-accredited agency and listed in the FDA-administered Global Unique Device Identification Database, where the label includes the manufacturer's name and address as well as the product's name, date of manufacture, serial number, and Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN).

The products subject to these orders are currently classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 9404.21.0010, 9404.21.0013, 9404.21.0095, 9404.29.1005, 9404.29.1013, 9404.29.1095, 9404.29.9085, 9404.29.9087, and 9404.29.9095. Products subject to these orders may also enter under HTSUS subheadings: 9401.41.0000, 9401.49.0000, and 9401.99.9081. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise subject to these orders is dispositive.