NEW YORK — A federal judge here said the Department of Commerce erred last year when it made four Ethan Allen accent chests subject to duties imposed on Chinese-made wood bedroom furniture.

In a 20-page ruling from the U.S. Court of International Trade, Judge Jane Restani sent the case back to the DOC, saying the chests should not be subject to a 2005 anti-dumping order because they are not designed for use in a bedroom.

Restani wrote that three of the four chests in question “have unique decorative features, and there is no evidence on the record that these decorative features match that of other bedroom furniture sold by Ethan Allen.”

She wrote that a fourth chest’s “coordinated design in a living room set indicates that its intended use is in a living room, not a bedroom.” Restani said the anti-dumping order covers wood furniture “generally but not exclusively” used in bedrooms, but ruled the language of that order should not be “so broad as to include coordinated living room furniture.”

Mowry & Grimson, the Washington, D.C. law firm that represented Ethan Allen, said in a letter to clients that while the judge’s order didn’t reverse the DOC decision, “the judge appears to have left little room for DOC to reach any other conclusion.”

The law firm noted that DOC could still appeal the case to a higher court.

While Ethan Allen was the primary plaintiff in the case, manufacturers and importers Ashley Furniture, Home Meridian, Hooker Furniture and Stein World were listed as intervenors, as was retailer City Furniture.

The 2005 anti-dumping order imposes duties on Chinese-made wood bedroom furniture, and is aimed at addressing unfair pricing tactics of Chinese producers who have been determined to have injured U.S. bedroom furniture manufacturers.(furnituretoday)