Commerce Includes Exporter's Temporary-Use Tires in Scope of AD Order on Passenger Tires
The Commerce Department on remand at the Court of International Trade said that exporter Cheng Shin Rubber Industry's temporary-use (T-type) tires fall within the scope of the antidumping duty order on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from Taiwan. The position represents a reversal of the agency's previous decision to exclude the tires from the scope of the order (United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO v. United States, CIT # 24-00165).
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Commerce initially excluded Cheng Shin's T-type tire for not meeting the size or regulatory requirements for regular service on passenger cars or light trucks. The trade court said the order unambiguously covers tires that fit passenger cars or light trucks, adding that there's clear evidence Cheng Shin's tires are of this size, since "spare tires are meant to be used on passenger cars" (see 2506090032).
On remand, Commerce characterized the court's decision as ruling that the "plain language of the Order requires that inclusion in the scope hinges on the size of the tire and whether it fits passenger cars or light trucks." The agency said it reconsidered its scope ruling and found that Cheng Shin's tires fall within the scope of the order.
The company's scope ruling request includes evidence describing the tires as "temporary use spare tires used exclusively as a temporary spare tire for passenger vehicles." In addition, Commerce noted that the importer, Cheng Shin's U.S. affiliate Cheng Shin Rubber USA, submitted an invoice for T-type tires that listed the tires under the heading "CAR TIRES." The agency said based on this evidence it agrees that Cheng Shin's tires "are of a size that fit passenger cars because spare tires are meant to be used on passenger cars."
Commerce also reviewed the tires to see whether they fit under the order's exclusion for temporary tires. The scope ruling request indicated that the tires are "designed and marketed exclusively as temporary use spare tires for passenger vehicles," since they are stamped "TEMPORARY USE ONLY." The importer also submitted photographic evidence showing the designation "T" is molded onto the tire's sidewall as part of its size designation.
However, the agency said the exclusion doesn't apply, since "the size designation and load index combination molded on the sidewall of Cheng Shin’s T-type tires is not listed in Table PCT-1R or PCT-1B of the 2019 Tire and Rim Association Year Book," as explicitly required by the temporary tire exclusion.