DOC Delays Preliminary Ruling on Truck Tire Tariff

March 30, 2016

The U.S. Department of Commerce has granted an extension in its investigation of whether truck and bus tires from China are benefitting from subsidies from the Chinese government.

In a notice to be published in the March 31, 2016, Federal Register, the DOC says the petitioner in the case, the United Steelworkers, asked for a postponement “due to the number and nature of subsidy programs under investigation.”

These extensions are not uncommon. (A similar request was granted in the ongoing off-the-road tariff investigation involving tires from Sri Lanka and India.) And the DOC granted the USW’s request in the truck and bus case, which means the agency’s preliminary ruling now is due June 27, 2016. (The original determination was due April 25, 2016.)

The extension then also delays when a final ruling in the case will come, as statutes regulate the final ruling must come 75 days after the preliminary ruling — unless it’s also postponed at a later time.