MONSON – A Monson manufacturer is among a group of furniture makers nationwide that has petitioned the federal government to place duties on some Chinese furniture imports.

John Wentworth, president of Moosehead Manufacturing, said the petition accuses Chinese companies of selling wooden bedroom furniture at artificially low prices in the United States.

The technique, a form of “dumping,” is prohibited under U.S. trade laws, according to the petition signed by about 30 U.S. furniture makers, including Moosehead Manufacturing. The coalition blames the trade practices for job losses in the U.S. industry.

Wentworth said by dumping their products onto the U.S. marketplace at prices below cost, Chinese manufacturers “end up owning the market.”

“They need to bring prices more in line with ours,” he said. “We can compete with 10 to 15 [percent] below market, but when it is 80 to 90 percent cheaper, we can’t.”

The coalition filed its complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in October. It is asking for duties averaging 250 percent of the cost of the pieces coming to the United States from China.

If successful, the duties could be imposed by spring.

By raising retail prices of Chinese-made furniture, the coalition believes the duties would save American jobs.

Citing U.S. Department of Labor statistics, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said that 34,700 wooden furniture workers, or 28 percent of the work force, have lost their jobs in the last 21/2 years.

Moosehead Manufacturing, which has plants in Monson and Dover-Foxcroft, employs about 190 people, down from 250 three years ago, Wentworth said.

He said the smaller work force is the result of increasing imports and the sputtering economy the past few years. The company makes Shaker and mission-style furniture that is sold in independent furniture stores nationwide.

“What we make today probably won’t be offered in two to three or four years if there are [copies] by the Chinese and ours are $100 and people can buy theirs for $35,” Wentworth said.

The International Trade Commission has scheduled a vote on the petition on Jan. 9. If the panel favors U.S. furniture makers, the commission will then investigate the cost and pricing of Chinese furniture to determine if dumping has occurred and set duties if it has.

The case has drawn the attention of Chinese officials, who say it is the biggest antidumping investigation ever conducted into imports from China. China’s Commerce Ministry last month said the investigation could affect trade worth $1 billion annually.

Wentworth said he received a letter from a retailer who scolded him for signing the petition and “upsetting our Chinese friends.” He said some large retailers have written other manufacturers saying they won’t do business with them if they are involved in the petition.

Snowe, meanwhile, wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Donald Evans and International Trade Commission Chair Deanna Tanner Okun in support of the U.S. furniture industry.

“The American residential wood furniture industry, including numerous small and mid-sized companies across the United States, is being devastated by the surge of unfairly priced imports from China,” Snowe wrote.