Chinese firm buys Palliser Furniture months after Winnipeg company complains of unfair Asian trade practices

China-based MotoMotion article of article of furniture acquired Palliser Furniture in May — ternion months after the struggling lake winnipeg producer complained Canada hasn't done enough to protect the domestic furniture industry from unfair trade practices in Asia.

MotoMotion, a furniture design and manufacturing company based in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, purchased Palliser on May 29, the Winnipeg-based company said in a statement.

In the statement, Peter Tielmann — the president and CEO of Palliser Holdings — described the transaction as the natural progression of a long-standing partnership between the two companies.

MotoMotion has been a Palliser supplier. The company has 7,000 employees in manufacturing operations across China, Vietnam and Cambodia, Tielmann said in the statement.

Palliser has been forced to close stores in recent years. In August 2025, Manitoba's government extended a $15-million loan guarantee to a company controlled by Art DeFehr, whose family founded Palliser, to allow the company to repay debt to Access Credit Union.

Palliser then reduced its Canadian workforce by 20 jobs in February 2026.

In a letter to Tielmann dated Feb. 5, the deputy minister responsible for business, mining, trade and job creation called the layoffs a breach of the loan guarantee agreement.

Jack then told Tielmann to take steps to restore the jobs.

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In a response dated Feb. 19, also shared by Moses' office, Tielmann said Palliser has been hit hard by both U.S. Tariffs and Asian trade practices.

"Despite strong and sustained advocacy from our industry, the Government of Canada has not taken sufficiently robust action to protect domestic furniture manufacturers from unfair trade practices originating in jurisdictions such as China and Vietnam," Tielmann wrote in a letter to Jack.

"This has contributed to a steady erosion of market share for Canadian producers. Twenty years ago, domestic upholstered furniture production equalled total Canadian demand — today our industry supplies less than 25% per cent of domestic demand and continues to decline."

Jack wrote back requesting concrete action. Tielmann responded by stating the company was "actively working toward" rebuilding its Manitoba workforce to 191 manufacturing jobs and was recruiting 20 employees as part of an effort to transfer some of its Mexican operations back to Winnipeg.

It is unclear whether the NDP government was made aware of Palliser's acquisition by MotoMotion.

Moses said while the Manitoba government understands the challenges faced by the furniture sector, it wants to protect jobs.

Speaking in Stonewall, Premier Wab Kinew said the province intends to find out whether Palliser jobs will remain in Manitoba.

The MotoMotion acquisition does not include the EQ3 furniture brand or its Canadian manufacturing operations, Tielmann said in his statement.

EQ3 will continue to operate independently under separate ownership, leadership and management, Tielmann said.

He noted Palliser's roots in Manitoba go back more than 80 years. The DeFehr family started the company that would become Palliser Furniture in 1944.

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