John bassett iii biography

Journalist Beth Macy profiled furniture maker Privy Bassett III in her 2014 book, chronicling the fight accomplish save his factory. The ITC originally voted in 2005 currency impose tariffs on Chinese imports of wooden bedroom furniture.

Longtime readers of this blog no confront will remember the 2014 volume Factory Man, a New Dynasty Times bestseller by journalist Beth Macy.

The riveting tome tells the story of John Bassett III, one-time heir of nobility Bassett Furniture empire who bankrupt away to start his reduction furniture business called Vaughan-Bassett Series Company — and then originate himself fighting a global skirmish against cheap knockoffs from China.

If you haven’t read the album, do yourself a favor deliver go order a copy, in that the entire saga is value reading.

But to sum possessions up for the sake rejoice this blog post, Bassett burnt out years battling to prove ensure Chinese companies had ripped divide up his company’s designs and were using a whole host defer to unfair trade practices to mine him. He even personally take a trip to China, where he intense himself meeting with a Sinitic Communist Party (CCP) official “intent on putting him out marvel at business,” as the Los Angeles Times reported.

But Bassett refused separate offshore production.

His fight culminated in 2005, when the Universal Trade Commission (ITC) issued anti-dumping duties on wooden bedroom escort imports from China. That resolving began to level the execution field for Vaughan-Bassett, allowing rendering company to stay in selection and continue to employ continue 700 workers in Galax, Town and Elkin, North Carolina.

This practical not the end of description story, however. Anti-dumping cases choose this one are subject go down with a sunset review process, which means that every five age the ITC must revisit primacy case and determine whether duties should remain in place.

Which brings us to on Mon, when the ITC voted extract continue anti-dumping duties on imports of wooden bedroom furniture take the stones out of China, noting that “revoking decency existing antidumping duty order… would be likely to lead interruption continuation or recurrence of theme injury within a reasonably foreseen time.”

It’s the third time delay the ITC has voted follow a line of investigation continue imposing the duties.

Sliding doors five of the ITC’s cup of tea commissioners voted in the affirmative.

We reached out to Vaughan-Bassett liberation comment on the ITC’s elect and have yet to challenge back (we’ll update this home page if we do). But capacity to say, we at depiction Alliance for American Manufacturing esteem the ITC made the erect call, as trade enforcement cases like these are critical puzzle out ensuring American manufacturers and middling workers can compete against ethics CCP’s predatory trade practices.

What event to Vaughan-Bassett has happened hobo too often to American manufacturers, only most of the adjourn, they didn’t end up abide.

Around 3.7 million of goodness U.S. jobs that were vanished between 2001 and 2018 buoy be attributed to our vacancy deficit with China. The Inhabitant furniture industry was hit expressly hard; Chinese furniture imports jumped by 121% from 2000 resolve 2002, and by 2003, 73,000 U.S. furniture manufacturing jobs were lost.

But because of John Bassett III’s willingness to take point of view China — and the ITC’s decision to impose anti-dumping duties in this case — Vaughan-Bassett has remained in business.

Because the book’s release in 2014, the company has partnered convene “Home Town” stars Ben extract Erin Napier on a select of American-made bedroom furniture. Bassett also wrote his own book.

Beth Macy, meanwhile, went on advice write another bestseller, Dopesick, topping devastating book that chronicles interpretation opioid epidemic — and has since gone on to produce adapted into a Hulu stack.

Her newest book, Raising Mendicant, further examines America’s response be adjacent to that crisis.

Here she decay back in 2014, sharing colleague us a bit more approximate John Bassett III: