Slovenian producers of mattresses who export their products to the United States face punitive anti-dumping tariffs of almost 745% under preliminary findings issued by the US Department of Commerce in late February.

The Department of Commerce has announced anti-dumping tariffs on mattress imports from twelve mostly European and Asian countries, whereby Slovenian firms face the highest tariffs.

Tariffs for other countries range from 11% for Spain and 23% for India, to 538% for the Philippines and 331% for Poland.

According to the Department of Commerce, these preliminary rates could change for the final determination.

The decision is based on complaints by several US mattress manufacturers who claim that they are the victims of price dumping.

While Slovenian mattresses account for just a fraction of overall mattress imports to the US, the tariffs could have a significant impact on overall Slovenian exports of the product.

In the segment of foam and plastic mattresses, Slovenia's exports totalled €13.7 million in 2022, of which the US accounted for €11.2 million, show figures from Export Window, a government portal for exporters.

Slovenia also exported €9.5 million worth of spring mattresses, with the US accounting for €318,000 of the total.

Spirit Slovenia, the national agency for the promotion of investment and exports, says this issue was not in their purview since the EU has a single trade policy.

"Companies facing problems in this field can turn to the Economy Ministry or directly to the European Commission," Spirit told the Slovenian Press Agency.