Should the anti-dumping duties imposed on OTR tire imports from the People’s Republic of China be rescinded or adjusted? That’s what the United States Department of Commerce is deciding – and it needs more time to do so.
First, some background.
On July 8, 2008, the Department of Commerce ruled that "Chinese exporters of off-the-road tires have received government subsidies and sold at below the cost of production in the U.S." (See “Feds say Chinese companies are dumping OTR tires.)
One month later, the International Trade Commission (ITC) voted 5-1 to place anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on off-the-road tire imports from China. (See “International Trade Commission: Duties will be placed on Chinese OTR tire imports.”) The duties varied depending on the exporter.
On October 26, 2009, the Department of Commerce asked its International Trade Administration (ITA) to review the Antidumping duty order. Preliminary results were published on Oct. 19, 2010.
The ITA wrote that it had “preliminarily determined that certain exporters… sold subject merchandise to the United States at prices below normal value during the period of review (POR). If these preliminary results are adopted in our final results of review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to assess antidumping duties on entries of subject merchandise during the POR….”
The deadline for the final results originally was Feb. 16, 2011. However, in the Monday, Feb. 7, 2011, volume of the “Federal Register,” the government indicated it needs to extend that deadline. Under the Tariff Act of 1930, it can extend the deadline up to 60 days.
“We determine that it is not practicable to complete the final results of this review within the current deadline because the department continues to require additional time to analyze issues raised in recent surrogate value submissions, verification exhibits, and case briefs and rebuttals. Therefore, we are extending the time limit for completion of the final results by 30 days… As such, the final results are now due no later than March 18, 2011.”
To see the the preliminary results published Oct. 19, 2010, visit the “Federal Register,” Vol. 75, page 64259.
