U.S.Commerce Dept. reviews Chinese tire maker

The U.S. Department of Commerce will conduct a New Shipper Review (NSR) of a Chinese tire importer to calculate countervailing duties.

Shandong Xinghongyuan Tire Co. Ltd. (SXT) filed a request for the review Feb. 25, as required by the Trade Act of 1930, according to a June 9 Federal Register notice.

SXT certified to Commerce that it had shipped passenger and light truck tires to the U.S., but said it had done so after the period of investigation Commerce used to determine countervailing duty levels on Chinese passenger and light truck importers.

The agency levied countervailing duties ranging from 20.33 to 100.77 percent against Chinese passenger and light truck tire imports on June 12, 2016.

In its request to Commerce, SXT submitted the following required information, according to the Federal Register notice: the date of the company’s first sale to an unaffiliated customer in the U.S.; the date of entry; and the volume of tires in the shipment.

Commerce now has 180 days from the Federal Register publication to issue a preliminary ruling and 90 days after that to make a final ruling, unless the investigation proves extraordinarily complicated, the agency said.