Comparison
Hotel furniture: Türkiye or China?
The question comes up on every project and there is no single answer: it moves with the destination, the order size and how much of the package is made to order. This comparison is written by one of the two parties — we are a Turkish factory — so read it on that basis, and start with the section where we say where China wins. Four differences actually decide it: duty at the destination port, whether you can inspect before paying, the minimum order the supply chain imposes, and how much of the package is bespoke.
First: duty at the destination port
This is the only difference that can be stated in figures, and in one market it is large. The US figures are verified against HTSUS Revision 15 as of 5 August 2026:
| Destination | From Türkiye | From China |
|---|---|---|
| United States — wooden casegoods | 12.5% | 37.5% or more |
| European Union | Zero, on an A.TR inside the customs union | The ordinary EU rate — confirm with your broker |
| Saudi Arabia and the Gulf | Set by the importer of record; we do not guess it | Same source, same question |
Why the US gap is this large
Wooden casegoods from Türkiye sit outside the Section 232 wood action and carry the Section 301 rate at 12.5%. The same lines from China carry 37.5% or more. Twenty-five points across the value of a whole FF&E package will decide a US project on its own.
Why we do not give you China's EU rate
Because we have not verified it. Our own side is settled — our goods are industrial and enter duty-free on an A.TR — but the other party's rate is a question for your broker against the ten-digit line. A sentence we cannot source is worth less than the sentence admitting we cannot.
And duty is not the landed cost
Freight, insurance, port charges, inland delivery and installation all remain. Duty is one line — but it is the line nobody can renegotiate after loading.
Second: can you inspect before you pay
This is the difference that never appears in a table and decides most projects anyway. The factory is in Gemlik, Bursa: 5,000 m² of production with a 350 m² showroom above it holding eight fully built hotel model rooms. You walk into them, open the drawers, sit on the seating and touch the finish — before the purchase order, not after. For your project specifically a model room is built and approved before the line opens. Bursa is a day trip from Riyadh, Jeddah, Dubai or Cairo, and from most of Europe; one visit is enough, because what you inspect is what gets made.
Third: order size
Small and mid-size hotels
Eighty to a hundred and fifty keys is the size this floor runs comfortably, and at that size no container imposes a minimum on you.
A package delivered in parts
Guestrooms, then public areas, then the restaurant — different phases and different schedules, on one purchase order and with one party answerable.
Changing something mid-production
A fabric or a dimension changed after the model room is approved is a decision made on a call, because the line running it is an hour from the desk deciding it.
Where China wins
In three places, plainly. Capacity: Chinese furniture clusters are larger by orders of magnitude, and a thousand-key programme on a compressed schedule will find capacity there that we do not have. Unit price at high volume on a standard design: if the requirement is a standard piece in quantity with nothing bespoke about it, that price is hard to beat, and it stays hard to beat with duty added — except in the United States, where twenty-five points eat the difference. Catalogue breadth: the range of ready types and styles is wider, and a buyer purchasing from a catalogue is not buying made-to-order at all. The working rule: the more bespoke the package, the smaller the run, and the more the inspection matters, the more it tips to us — and the reverse tips to them.
How to decide in ten minutes
Where is it shipping?
If the United States, run the duty first — the decision can end on that line. If the European Union, we enter duty-free on an A.TR.
How many keys, and how many designs?
A hundred keys with a bespoke design is our project. A thousand keys of one standard piece is not, and we will say so.
Will you inspect before paying?
If yes — and every procurement adviser says yes — cost the trip and the time to each option.
Who carries the risk at installation?
Ask both parties the same question: who stands on site until the last room is complete, and under what contract.
Common questions
- Is Turkish furniture more expensive than Chinese?
- On a standard piece at high volume, usually yes. On a made-to-order package for a mid-size hotel the gap narrows and then reverses once duty, the inspection trip and mid-production changes enter the arithmetic. In the US market it reverses early: 12.5% against 37.5% or more on the same lines.
- What is the quality difference?
- We will not answer that with adjectives. Quality is what the written specification says: the board, the foam density, the fabric, the hardware, and the fire and strength standards named in the contract. Ask both parties for the same specification and compare it line by line — whoever declines to write it has answered you.
- Do your goods really enter the EU duty-free?
- Yes. Hotel furniture is industrial goods and moves inside the EU–Türkiye Customs Union on an A.TR movement certificate, regardless of where the board or the hardware came from.
- Does an A.TR prove the goods are not Chinese?
- No. It proves free circulation, not origin. A buyer who needs to evidence non-Chinese origin — for trade defence or a procurement content rule — asks for a certificate of origin, which is a different document and one we raise on request.
- How do your lead times compare with China's?
- Set per project against scope and materials, and fixed in the offer with the delivery date written into the contract. We publish no general figure, because a general figure is quoted to reassure and then missed.
- Can we visit both before deciding?
- We recommend it. Our visit is booked, we receive you in English or Arabic, and eight model rooms are standing to be inspected on the same trip.
Send the BOQ and compare.
A bill of quantities or a drawing set is enough. We come back itemised line by line, so you can put it beside the other quote and compare on paper.