By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff
The U.S. Department of Commerce has delayed until December 29 the deadline for issuing its preliminary decision on whether passenger and light-truck tires from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam are being sold in the United States at less than fair value. The request for the 50-day delay was made by the petitioner, the United Steelworkers (USW) union, which believes the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA) needs additional time to gather information. The deadline for issuing a final determination has been delayed as well, from late January to mid-March 2021.
The USW antidumping petition cites dumping margins as high as 195% for Korea, 147% for Taiwan, 217% for Thailand and 33% for Vietnam. The USW also filed a petition alleging that Vietnamese tire producers are benefiting from certain government subsidies subject to countervailing duties.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has already made an initial determination that U.S. industry is likely being harmed by the alleged dumping and subsidies. Once the ITA calculates preliminary dumping and subsidy rates, U.S. Customs will be directed to collect corresponding cash deposits from importers. For duties to take effect, the ITC must confirm that there is harm or threatened harm to U.S. industry once the ITA has issued its final dumping and subsidy calculations.
For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.