Mover Mike

Concerned with dumping by China, the US imposed some small anti-dumping duties on Chinese furniture imports. According to FURNITURE Today, there were some unintended consequences. China outsourced to Vietnam where labor costs are lower than in China and exports of U.S. hardwoods, including red and white oak, ash, maple, yellow poplar, cherry and walnut from to Vietnam has increased from $926,640 in 1999 to $11.3 million in 2003 to $22.9 Million in 2004. Right now, a lot of the hardwoods are being used in furniture produced for customers in Europe. Vietnam now hopes to expand their furniture imports to the US.

look for Europe, hurt by competition from furniture manaufacturers in Vietnam, to impose anti-dumping duties. Look for more stress on US manufacturers as Vietnamese imports surge, leading to more anti-dumping duties. And so it goes, as nations strive to protect their own.

From Yahoo,

The United States slapped extra curbs on Chinese imports on Thursday, hours after talks on a formula to deal with China's surging textile shipments ended in failure.

So, tell me, how does this benefit the US and EU if China outsources to Vietnam or some other Asian country where wages are lower than in China?