Third-Country Vehicle Frames Containing Chinese Components Carry AD/CVD, Scope Ruling Says
Finished chassis imported by Pitts Enterprises that include Chinese-origin axles and landing gears are covered by antidumping and countervailing subsidy duties on chassis from China, the Commerce Department said in a Jan. 10 scope ruling.
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Commerce said it only needed to look to the plain language of the AD/CVD orders to make its decision.
According to the orders, covered chassis “subassemblies” include chassis frames, running gear or axle assemblies, landing gear assemblies and assemblies to connect chassis to a converter dolly or another chassis, Commerce said. Chinese components entered with or further assembled with an unfinished chassis also are covered by the orders, it said.
All of the essential components used in the running gear and landing gear subassemblies of Pitts’ chassis came from China, even if they were then processed by Pitts’ Vietnamese supplier, Truoang Hai Auto Corporation, Commerce said.
“Thus, the record evidence demonstrates that THACO’s finished chassis manufactured using Chinese components constituting multiple unassembled subassemblies are covered by the scope,” it said.
This case is different from Commerce’s earlier Trans Texas Tire scope ruling decision because the merchandise under consideration in that query, wheel cap components, were imported and sold directly into the market in the United States, not kept to be used in further assembly of the importers’ actual products, Commerce said.
“If Commerce were to find chassis components out of scope if they are imported in separate and independent shipments, Commerce would be introducing a significant loophole for evasion of the Orders, as companies could import full chassis or subassemblies as separate shipments of components,” the department said.