WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today applauded the International Trade Commission’s (ITC) decision to approve Sunbeam Corporation’s petition to prohibit the unfair imports of woven electric blankets from China.

The U.S. woven electric blanket industry and the Sunbeam Corporation in Waynesboro, Mississippi, have been threatened by China “dumping” these blankets into the U.S. market. Wicker and Cochran have worked with the Department of Commerce over the past several months urging the need for trade laws to be enforced.

“The commission’s decision is welcomed news for the many Mississippi employees and local businesses that rely on the sustainability of Sunbeam,” said Wicker, who testified before the ITC last month in support of Sunbeam’s petition. “This decision will help level the playing field so American companies like Sunbeam can compete.”

"I commend Sunbeam for waging a successful campaign to show that it is being threatened by unfair competition.  This plant and the jobs it provides are important not just to Waynesboro, but also to the state of the manufacturing sector in Mississippi.  I look forward to the U.S. Department of Commerce using the ITC decision to take action to protect this plant and its workers," Cochran said.

The Sunbeam facility in Waynesboro, Miss employs over 300 workers and is the last U.S. factory that produces woven electric blankets.  Sunbeam petitioned the Department of Commerce/International Trade Office in June 2009 to investigate the unfair imports from China and assess antidumping duties. In January 2010, Cochran and Wicker sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke asking that the department enforce the trade laws to avoid negative economic impacts on Mississippi jobs.

The ITC voted unanimously that the U.S. industry has been materially injured by the unfair imports of woven electric blankets from China. As a result, the Department of Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order on woven electric blankets from China.

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