Alabama-based wire hanger producer M&B Metal Products Company Inc. (M&B Hangers) filed an antidumping petition on Wednesday, August 1, with the US ITC and the US DOC seeking to block unfairly priced Chinese hanger imports.
The petition states that Chinese wire hanger imports surged by more than 130 percent from 2004 to 2006, while during the same period prices of these imports fell by almost 30 percent. Chinese manufacturers now have control of nearly 70 percent of the US hanger market, a threefold increase in only 3 ½ years.
Commenting on the issue, president of M&B Hangers, Milton M. Magnus III, told the press, "Imports of steel wire garment hangers from China were virtually nonexistent several years ago, but now they're flooding the market. We have seen an extraordinary increase in the volume from China, with pricing often times less than the cost of our raw materials. Our industry has been devastated, and we need relief now."
M&B hangers is the only remaining US producer of steel wire hangers after its other domestic competitors were driven out of business in recent years by the flood of cheaper Chinese imports. M&B Hangers was also forced to close a plant in South Hill, Virginia as a result of China's increased stranglehold on the market.
The estimated dumping margins for imported Chinese hangers range from 204 to 611 percent.
The International Trade Commission is expected to make a preliminary injury determination by September 2007, and the Department of Commerce should issue a preliminary dumping determination by early January 2008. A finding of injury, or "critical circumstances," could lead to duties imposed retroactively to October 2007.