Mattress Duties Hold as Gaziantep Rug Makers Court Europe

The numbers

• 97.78% — Current US countervailing duty rate on mattresses from China, kept in place by the ITC's sunset vote (Home Textiles Today)
• $557 million — France's annual carpet imports, of which Türkiye supplies about $32 million, according to figures shared by GAHİB chairman Zeynal Abidin Kaplan (MENA Covering)
• $714.3M — US rug and carpet imports from Türkiye in the 12 months to March 2026, up 23.4% while the US total fell (FurniPulse analysis of U.S. Census International Trade API data)
• 6.1 million — Kitchens produced in Europe in 2025, a market CSIL says is stabilising after two years of correction (World Furniture Online)
• 13 — New motion upholstery groups Austin Group introduced at High Point, among 40 introductions; the company says it is working on mixed containers of products coming almost entirely from Vietnam (Home Furnishings News)

The week's most telling signal came from outside the High Point showrooms. Washington decided to keep its mattress trade barriers, and one of Türkiye's most important machine-made carpet centres, Gaziantep, sent a delegation to Paris and Milan looking for new buyers. Our read: together they show sourcing decisions being shaped by policy and by where growth can still be found, more than by anything on a showroom floor.

Seven countries, a 5–0 vote on mattresses

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted to keep antidumping duty orders on mattresses from Cambodia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam, along with a countervailing duty order on China, as Home Textiles Today reported. All five participating commissioners voted to retain them after the required five-year sunset review. The commission found that lifting the orders would likely let significant harm to US producers continue or return. This is a US-only story, but it reaches suppliers in Southeast Asia, China, Serbia and Turkey.

The rates are steep. When the orders were issued in 2021, published dumping margins were 112.11% for Serbia, 52.41% for Cambodia, 42.92% for Malaysia and 20.03% for Turkey. Thailand's ranged from 37.48% to 763.28%, and Vietnam's from 144.92% to 668.38%, depending on the producer or exporter. The current countervailing rate on Chinese mattresses is 97.78%. These are the figures as published, not a guide to what any particular shipment will pay.

Our read: the vote preserves existing orders rather than adding new duties, so the immediate change is stability, not disruption. That stability still matters. Importers who had been weighing a return to these seven origins on the chance the orders would lapse now have their answer. Producers in other countries keep whatever opening the orders created. And the domestic petitioners, a group that includes Leggett & Platt, Corsicana and the Teamsters and United Steelworkers unions, keep the shelter they won in 2021.

The backdrop is a shrinking import market. US imports of mattresses and bedding totalled $3.2B in the 12 months to March 2026, down 23.2% on the prior year, according to FurniPulse analysis of U.S. Census International Trade API data. Our read: in a shrinking market, duty walls are likely to matter more for who supplies than for how much is imported.

Gaziantep goes looking for room in Paris and Milan

Turkey appears on that mattress list, and its rug industry is pushing into a different market. From 11 to 17 October, the Southeastern Anatolia Carpet Exporters' Association (GAHİB), with support from Türkiye's Ministry of Trade, led Gaziantep manufacturers through business-to-business meetings and market research in Paris and Milan, as MENA Covering reported. GAHİB chairman Zeynal Abidin Kaplan said France imports about $557 million of carpets but takes only about $32 million from Türkiye. For Italy, GAHİB puts imports at about $300 million and Turkish sales at around $17 million.

Those numbers explain the trip. Set them against Türkiye's US business: US rug and carpet imports from Türkiye reached $714.3M in the 12 months to March 2026, up 23.4%, even as the $3.1B US total fell 11.2%, according to FurniPulse analysis of U.S. Census International Trade API data. India, at $1.1B, is the largest US supplier. Note that the US figure covers all Turkish rug shipments, not Gaziantep alone. We think Gaziantep is hedging. Turkish sales to the US are growing, so this is not a retreat; our read is that Europe offers diversification away from reliance on a single large market.

The obstacle is not distance. It is how European buyers choose. MENA Covering notes that they now weigh design, reliable delivery, sustainability and compliance alongside competitive pricing. European demand in the adjacent kitchen sector is subdued, per CSIL. Writing in World Furniture Online, CSIL says Europe produced about 6.1 million kitchens in 2025, reports consumption up just 0.5%, and says general furniture retailers and DIY stores keep losing share to specialists. Our expectation: Turkish mills that win in France and Italy will do it by building relationships with importers and specialist distributors, not by undercutting on price alone.

Input costs are not giving clear relief either. The FurniPulse Materials tracker shows China's domestic PP spot at 10,750 CNY/ton, up 0.9%, though the series names no grade or tax basis. The tracker has no verified current Turkish BCF price, so its band is a carried June estimate. On the polyester side, China PTA slipped 2.3%, according to the FurniPulse Materials tracker. Our read: the China signals point to firmer upstream pressure for polypropylene than for polyester, but both are unspecified-grade domestic prints and neither is a Turkish price.

High Point's pitch: widen the range, not the warehouse

At High Point, two exhibitors pitched ways to sell more without stocking more. Austin Group, long a midpriced bedroom resource, added 13 motion upholstery groups among 40 introductions, Home Furnishings News reported. Chief merchandising officer Chelsy Helton said the company is working on solutions to mix containers with different products and styles coming almost entirely from Vietnam. Managing partner J. Scott Ostrander, who plans to retire at year end, said bedroom was becoming a slow category.

GigaCloud took the idea further. Its marketplace links buyers with more than 1,400 sellers of bulky goods and can ship direct to consumers, while its Wonder unit demonstrated an Extended Aisle kiosk program, as Home Furnishings News reported. Our read: mixed containers and drop-ship catalogues answer the same problem. Retailers want a wider assortment without carrying the inventory risk.

Rug resources were busy too. Jaipur Living spotlighted CallaLuxe, a luxury performance series spanning hand-knotted, hand-woven and hand-tufted weaves, according to Rug News. Lavin Rugs moved to a remodeled showroom shared with sister company Cyan Design, Rug News reported. Our read: Jaipur's performance pitch and Lavin's shared showroom are two ways rug resources are adapting while total US imports shrink.

What we know, and what we don't

Established: the ITC's participating commissioners unanimously kept the mattress orders on seven countries, and the published rates are as reported. GAHİB's delegation ran 11–17 October with stated French and Italian import figures. US rug and mattress-and-bedding import totals fell in the 12 months to March 2026, while US imports from Türkiye rose, per FurniPulse analysis of Census data. The European kitchen market stabilised in 2025, per CSIL, though production volumes still slipped just over 1%. Still open: whether the Paris and Milan meetings produced orders, since no results have been reported, and how Gaziantep's own exports split between Europe and the US, since the US data covers all of Türkiye. On costs, current Turkish BCF resin prices are unverified, and the China PP and PET prints name no grade. At High Point, it is not yet clear whether Austin Group's motion push or GigaCloud's Extended Aisle converts into retailer commitments.

On the calendar

• 2026-10-16 to 2026-10-25 — DESIGNART TOKYO, Tokyo
• 2026-10-17 to 2026-10-21 — High Point Market Fall, High Point
• 2026-11-08 to 2026-11-09 — Boutique Design New York, New York

---

FurniPulse analysis based on the reporting, filings and FurniPulse data cited above. It is not investment, legal or customs advice. Spot an error? Email contact@furnipulse.com — we correct openly.