In a unanimous decision, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to continue the tariff investigation of passenger and light truck tires from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The commission found that there is “reasonable indication” that PLT tires from these countries are allegedly being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value and are being subsidized by the government of Vietnam, a press release from the USITC said.
As a result of the commission’s 5-0 vote, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue with its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations concerning imports of these products from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, with its preliminary countervailing duty determination due on or about Aug. 26, and its antidumping duty determinations due on or about Nov. 9, the release said.
When the Aug. 14 report is available, it can be publicly accessed on the USITC website at: https://www.usitc.gov/commission_publications_library.
The investigation started as a result of the United Steelworkers Union (USW) filing antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) petitions on dumped and subsidized PLT tires from the four countries in mid-May.
The USW’s antidumping and countervailing duty (CVD) petition claimed that dumping margins were as high as 195% for Korea, 147% for Taiwan, 217% for Thailand and 33% for Vietnam.
In late June, the Commerce Department opened an investigation into the matter.