Accompanied by Legislator Gao Jyh-peng of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, more than a dozen representatives from the Taipei Bedding Association and the Taipei Bedding Commerce Guild called for the government to pay attention to the problem in a news conference.

The representatives claimed that shoddy bedding from China is not labeled with the place of origin in order to mislead customers.

If the government does not take steps to address the problem, they said, more than 7,000 manufacturers will be forced to close down and nearly 70,000 workers will lose their jobs within one year.

Gao also said that currently, Chinese bedding is not on the list of controlled imports, resulting in an influx of cheap bedding from China into Taiwan.

The bedding has not undergone rigorous testing, Gao said, adding that even official Chinese investigations have shown that up to 54 percent of the bedding produced in China has high levels of the chemical compound methanol.

The shoddy quality of Chinese bedding poses a health threat to the public, the representatives said, adding that its impact on public health is even more serious than that of Chinese towels which have also made their way into Taiwan in large quantities.

If the issue of the dumping of Chinese bedding is not dealt with, then 7,170 manufacturers, including weavers, dyers and zipper producers, as well as retailers will have to close down within one year, and 66,000 laborers will lose their jobs, they said.

The representatives asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance to implement “import relief” measures just as they did for local towel manufacturers in the wake of Chinese towel dumping.

The government should also impose an anti-dumping tax on imported Chinese bedding to protect the rights of local manufacturers, they added.

Wang Yi-hsien, a section chief of the International Trade Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said that the commission will put Chinese bedding on its monitoring list and will activate trade relief procedures if the quantity and price of Chinese bedding continue to undermine local bedding manufacturers.

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