The Department of Commerce will postpone its preliminary determination open investigation into passenger and light truck tire (PLT) imports from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam to determine if they’re being sold at less than market value.
Section 733(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), requires the Dept. of Commerce to issue the preliminary determination in a Less-Than-Fair-Value (LTFV) investigation within 140 days of the date on which the Dept. Commerce initiated the investigation.
However, section 733(c)(1) of the Act permits the Dept. of Commerce to postpone the preliminary determination until no later than 190 days after the date on which Commerce initiated the investigation if: (A) The petitioner makes a timely request for a postponement; or (B) the Dept. of Commerce concludes that the parties concerned are cooperating, that the investigation is extraordinarily complicated, and that additional time is necessary to make a preliminary determination. Under 19 CFR 351.205(e), the petitioner must submit a request for postponement 25 days or more before the scheduled date of the preliminary determination and must state the reasons for the request. The Dept. of Commerce will grant the request unless it finds compelling reasons to deny the request.
On Oct. 1, the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL–CIO, CLC (the petitioner) submitted a timely request that the Dept. of Commerce postpone the preliminary determinations in these LTFV investigations. The petitioner stated that it requests postponement due to the complexity of selecting the mandatory respondents and obtaining initial and supplemental questionnaire responses. Under the current timeline, the petitioner believes that the Dept. of Commerce will not have complete responses and sufficient information to issue these preliminary determinations.
For the reasons stated above, and because there are no compelling reasons to deny the request, Commerce, in accordance with section 733(c)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(e), is postponing the deadline for the preliminary determinations by 50 days (i.e., 190 days after the date on which these investigations were initiated).
As a result, the Dept. of Commerce will issue its preliminary determinations no later than December 29, 2020. In accordance with section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1), the deadline for the final determinations in these investigations will continue to be 75 days after the date of the preliminary determinations, unless postponed at a later date.
