US opens 'sunset' review of import duties on Chinese P/LT tires

Washington – The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has opened a regulatory review of antidumping and countervailing duty orders imposed in 2015 on imports of certain passenger and light truck tires from China, as proscribed in the original orders.

The so-called "sunset" provision calls for the ITC to review AD and CVD orders every five years. The import duty orders went into effect on 12 Aug 2015.

The ITC's directive is to "determine whether revocation of the (AD) and (CVD) duty orders on certain passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury."

Pursuant to the act, the ITC said interested parties have until July 31 to submit comments on the matter. The Commission has until Sept. 14 to comment on the "adequacy" of responses.

The ITC published its notice of review in the 1 July Federal Register. The notice did not provide a deadline when the ITC must make a ruling on the matter.

The antidumping duties imposed in August 2015 ranged from 14.4% to 87.9% and countervailing duties ranged from 20.7% to 100.8%, depending on manufacturer. The "China-wide" rates were 30.9% and 87.8%, respectively.

Since the imposition of these duties, imports of passenger tires from China have fallen nearly 95% to 2.8 million units last year from 50.4 million units in 2014, according to US Commerce Department data.

Five-year "sunset" reviews of import duties are required because of language in the Uruguay Round Agreements Implementation Act, approved in late 1994 and to which the US is a signatory.

This act includes a provision that requires the Department of Commerce and the ITC to conduct reviews no later than five years after an antidumping or countervailing duty order is issued to determine whether revoking the order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping or subsidiesand of material injury.

The ITC is accepting comments electronically only. Interested parties need to submit comments via the Commission's Electronic Document Information System (EDIS).

The ITC recommends interested parties review filing procedures that are available on the commission's website.