Commerce – Countervailing Duties on Vietnamese Cars,Tires

The U.S. Department of  Commerce today announced an affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing* duty (CVD) investigation of passenger vehicle and light truck (passenger tires) tires from Vietnam. The Commerce Department claimed that exporters and producers from Vietnam received counter available subsidies with rates ranging from 6.23% to 10.08%.

Among the subsidies preliminarily countervailed is Vietnam’s undervalued currency. This is the first time that Commerce has ever made an affirmative CVD determination regarding a foreign currency with a unitary exchange rate. Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of passenger tires from Vietnam based on these preliminary rates above.

The petitioner is the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial, and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC. The company is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. Commerce is scheduled to announce its final determination in this case on or about March 16, 2021. This deadline may be extended.

If Commerce makes an affirmative final determination, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will be scheduled to make its final injury determination on or about 30 April 30, 2021. If Commerce makes an affirmative final determination in this investigation and the ITC makes an affirmative final injury determination, Commerce will issue a CVD order. If Commerce makes a negative final determination of countervailable subsidization or the ITC makes a negative final determination of injury, the investigation will be ended, and no order will be issued.

*A subsidy is a financial contribution provided by a government or any public body which confers a benefit to an entity. Subsidies are “countervailable” if they are provided specifically to certain enterprises or industries, or groups thereof.