The first quarter world trade statistics for the U.S. furniture industry are in. Read 'em and weep. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the United States imported a record $2.3 billion worth of wood and upholstered furniture and parts between January and March of this year. That's nearly 30% more than was recorded in the first quarter of 1999, a year in which a record $8.6 billion worth of furniture and furniture parts entered the United States. On the plus side, U.S. furniture exports reached $320 million, putting them 15% ahead of last year's first quarter. Yet, the trade deficit weighing in at nearly $2 billion for the first quarter of 2000, puts the U.S. furniture industry on a pace to not only eclipse last year's record deficit of $7.4 billion, but catapult the trade gap to $8 billion in the process.
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