<p>Selling Made-in-the-U.S.A. products was a longtime requirement to join the American Furniture Manufacturers Association. But now, Imported-to-the-U.S.A. is good enough.</p><p>The leading trade association for the furniture industry dumped the word "Manufacturers" from its name Friday as it scrapped a policy that its members must have at least one factory in the United States.</p><p>It's a change that reflects how furniture manufacturing is going the way of textiles and electronics, with U.S. companies relying more on cheaper imports from Asia while slashing jobs at home.</p><p>"Some people are virtually out of the manufacturing business and are strictly wholesalers or importers," said Rob Spilman, the association president and CEO of Bassett Furniture Industries. "There's been tremendous downsizing of factory assets in this country.</p><p>"You can't fight that," he said. "You've got to be able to compete."</p><p>The decision, which included changing the association's name to the American Home Furnishings Alliance, was made at the North Carolina-based group's annual meeting in coastal Georgia.</p><p>U.S. demand for furniture imports have nearly doubled in the past decade, from 22 percent of total sales in 1994 to 41 percent last year. In the same period, U.S. sales of Chinese-made furniture exploded from $405 million to $5.82 billion.</p><p>Meanwhile, employment at U.S. furniture factories has dropped 19 percent _ with 35,600 jobs lost _ since 1993, according to the association.</p><p>American manufacturers have accused China of selling furniture in the United States for less than manufacturing costs and pushed the U.S. Commerce Department to impose higher tariffs to end the practice.</p><p>Yet more U.S. companies are opening factories in Asia or contracting with Asian manufacturers to meet price demands of retailers and consumers. An increasing number are becoming exclusively importers, Spilman said.</p><p>"There's real antagonism right now toward the importers," said Britt Beemer, a furniture industry analyst and chairman of America's Research Group, a consumer surveying firm. "It's important the furniture industry realizes we're not in a world where domestic producers are the only ones who are important."</p><p>Had the association kept its American-made policy, manufacturers say, some of its 475 members _ a roster than includes household names like Laz-Z-Boy and Ethan Allen _ would have been forced out.</p><p>"It made us look like we had our heads in the sand relative to what's happening with the furniture industry globally," said Dudley Flanders, president of outdoor furniture manufacturer Lloyd Flanders. "We're just the latest casualties in this part of the world."</p><p>Lloyd Flanders, like most U.S. furniture companies, still produces furniture domestically, with 450 workers at two factories in Michigan and Arkansas. But three years ago, the company also began contracting with China and the Philippines to lower costs.</p><p>Texas-based American Leather still makes all its leather furniture in the United States. CEO Bob Duncan said the company has survived by focusing on high-end custom pieces, offering plenty of options and quick delivery _ things importers don't do well.</p><p>Duncan also supported allowing importers into the association, fearing membership would drop and hurt the group's research and marketing efforts. He sees other products, not imported furniture, as his real competitors.</p><p>"I want furniture to be something people think about," Duncan said. "I'd rather have them buy a sofa than an HDTV."</p>
