The U S International Trade Commission has issued an affirmative determination in its preliminary investigation of 53-foot domestic containers from China.
The investigation is in response to an unfair trade petition that Stoughton Trailers filed April 23. The petition alleges that the domestic container manufacturing industry in the United States has been prevented from growing and developing as it otherwise would have in a truly free market because of imports from China.
As a result of the Commission’s affirmative determination, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue its investigations of how these products are being imported. According to Stoughton, the Commerce Department’s investigation can result in the imposition of a duty escrow requirement in late summer and the subsequent assessment of actual duties to compensate for the level of unfair trading.
“The goal in filing this petition is to ensure that all transportation equipment manufacturers, including Stoughton Trailers as well as our Chinese competitors, compete on a level playing field in this important market,” said Robert Wahlin, president of Stoughton Trailers LLC. “This petition, if ultimately successful, will also help ensure that America has a strong, domestically based industry to manufacture, sell, and service 53-foot intermodal containers.”
The International Trade Commission is expected to issue a public report which details its findings and the bases of its affirmative determination in approximately two weeks.