U.S pushes back final countervailing duty determination

U.S Commerce Department’s final countervailing duty determination on Chinese passenger and light truck tires, originally due April 6, has been pushed back, the agency said.

A spokeswoman for Commerce’s International Trade Administration said the final countervailing duty determination will be issued June 12, the same date as the final determination on antidumping duties on the same tires.

At the request of the interested parties, the antidumping and countervailing duty determinations were aligned, the ITA spokeswoman said.

The United Steelworkers union filed petitions with the International Trade Commission in June 2014,

requesting countervailing and antidumping duties against Chinese tires. Invoking Sections 701 and 731 of the Trade Act, the union cited sharp increases in Chinese tire imports since the end of Section 401 tariffs in September 2012.

The ITA set preliminary rates for countervailing duties Nov. 24, 2014 and for antidumping duties Jan. 21, 2015, though in both cases it later lowered those rates. If the agency makes affirmative final determinations on June 12, the cases will go to the ITC, which will set the final countervailing and antidumping duty rates.