The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued a preliminary determination that Murphy wall bed units are exempt from antidumping duties on Chinese-made wooden bedroom furniture.

In early March, manufacturer Techcraft Mfg. asked the DOC to revoke the antidumping order relating to the wall bed units. Later that month, a group of U.S. manufacturers that supported the original antidumping investigation said they agreed the beds should be excluded from the order.

The duties are aimed at helping level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers that have been injured by unfairly priced wooden bedroom furniture imports from China. These duties are assigned to the Chinese bedroom manufacturers but paid by importers of record.

In their response to Techcraft’s request, the petitioners said they were not aware of any U.S. producer that opposed the exclusion of the wall bed units from the order.

The beds in question have a metal frame that attaches to the wall and uses coils or pistons to support the metal mattress frame. It typically attaches to the wall frame, thus allowing it to be enclosed when not in use.

The DOC did say that wood panels of the enclosable wall bed units, when imported separately, remain subject to the order.

A final determination from the DOC is expected by early February.