WASHINGTON—Double Coin Holdings Ltd. has obtained a sharply lower countervailing duty rate on its truck and bus tires, while Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd. obtained a slightly lower countervailing duty rate in a Feb. 14 decision handed down from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Double Coin's countervailing duty rate was reduced to 20.98 percent from the previously assessed 38.61 percent; Guizhou's duty rate was lowered to 63.34 percent from 65.46 percent.
Commerce previously issued revised antidumping and countervailing duty figures Jan. 23 as part of the ongoing investigation of whether Chinese truck and bus tire imports are causing material injury to the U.S. truck and bus tire industry. At that time, the agency imposed major increases on the countervailing duty rates against Double Coin and Guizhou. Double Coin's rate was raised to 38.61 percent from 17.06 percent; Guizhou's, to 65.46 percent from 23.36 percent.
Double Coin and Guizhou submitted allegations to the agency that it had made ministerial errors in calculating the countervailing duty rates.
In its Feb. 14 decision, Commerce said the tire makers correctly noted that the agency had made several errors in calculating the duties.
Commerce also changed the "All-Others" rate, a simple average of the subsidy rates found for the mandatory respondents to the agency's investigation, to 42.16 percent from 52.04 percent.
The United Steelworkers union petitioned the International Trade Commission in January 2016 for antidumping and countervailing duty relief from the alleged material injury caused by Chinese truck and bus tire imports.
The ITC is scheduled to make its final vote Feb. 22 on whether material injury actually occurred.