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Leibowitz defends China

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 21, 2004

EDISON, N.J. — EDISON, N.J.— As he prepares to bring a line of Chinese-made bedding into the U.S. market, Ira Leibowitz confronts a new challenge: China bashing.

That's not fair, he said, noting that China is an important trading partner of the United States. "To slap a partner is unfair," he said. "You need to look at the total picture."

Leibowitz, vice president of Excel Bedding here, said there is considerable foreign investment in China, and China should be lauded for facilitating U.S. consumer spending through its purchasing of U.S. debt and mortgage securities.

Working conditions in China "have dramatically improved," he said. "The image of China as a sweatshop doesn't exist, as far as I have seen."

His Chinese factory, Xilinmen Group of Shaoxing, China, operates a state-of-the-art factory, he said, and produces many of its own components, including innersprings. That has caught the attention of U.S. bedding producers.

"You can't believe how many requests I've gotten from producers wanting to buy Chinese springs," Leibowitz said, adding that Excel is looking into that possibility.

Excel also is considering supplying Chinese-made mattress ticking to U.S. bedding producers, he said.

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