China Mobile Access Equipment: New AD/CVD Investigations Deadlines & Scope
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on mobile access equipment and subassemblies thereof from China (A-570-139/C-570-140). The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2020. The AD duty investigation covers entries July 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2020.
The International Trade Commission will conduct a concurrent investigation to determine whether imports of dumped and illegally subsidized mobile access equipment and subassemblies thereof from China are injuring U.S. industry. If the ITC finds no injury in its preliminary injury determination, due April 12, the investigations will immediately end. If Commerce finds dumping or illegal subsidization in the preliminary determinations of these investigations, due in May for CV duties and August for AD duties, it will set AD and/or CV duty cash deposit requirements for imports of merchandise subject to the investigation. If both Commerce and the ITC reach affirmative final determinations, Commerce will issue an AD and/or CV duty order making duties permanent and beginning a process of annual administrative reviews to set final assessments of AD/CV duties on importers and potentially change AD/CV duty cash deposit rates.
If duties are imposed, Chinese producers and exporters that do not demonstrate independence from government control and request eligibility for a “separate rate” will be assigned the antidumping duty “China-wide rate,” which can reach more than 200 percent for some products. Separate rate applications from Chinese producers and exporters will be available (here), and are due on or about April 26.
AD/CVD Respondent Selection
For both its AD and CV duty investigations, Commerce will send quantity and value questionnaires to each potential respondent, and will base respondent selection on the responses it receives. Exporters that don't get a quantity and value questionnaire can still submit one using the forms available on the Commerce website for the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, respectively. Responses are due April 5.
Scope of the AD/CVD Investigations
The merchandise covered by this investigation consists of certain mobile access equipment, which consists primarily of boom lifts, scissor lifts, and material telehandlers, and subassemblies thereof. Mobile access equipment combines a mobile (self-propelled or towed) chassis, with a lifting device (e.g., scissor arms, boom assemblies) for mechanically lifting persons, tools and/or materials capable of reaching a working height of ten feet or more, and a coupler that provides an attachment point for the lifting device, in addition to other components. The scope of this investigation covers mobile access equipment and subassemblies thereof whether finished or unfinished, whether assembled or unassembled, and whether the equipment contains any additional features that provide for functions beyond the primary lifting function.
Subject merchandise includes, but is not limited to, the following subassemblies:
- scissor arm assemblies, or scissor arm sections, for connection to chassis and platform assemblies. These assemblies include: (1) pin assemblies that connect sections to form scissor arm assemblies, and (2) actuators that power the arm assemblies to extend and retract. These assemblies may or may not also include blocks that allow sliding of end sections in relation to frame and platform, hydraulic hoses, electrical cables, and/or other components;
- boom assemblies, or boom sections, for connection to the boom turntable, or to the chassis assembly, or to a platform assembly or to a lifting device. Boom assemblies include telescoping sections where the smallest section (or tube) can be nested in the next larger section (or tube) and can slide out for extension and/or articulated sections joined by pins. These assemblies may or may not include pins, hydraulic cylinders, hydraulic hoses, electrical cables, and/or other components;
- chassis assemblies, for connection to scissor arm assemblies, or to boom assemblies, or to boom turntable assemblies. Chassis assemblies include: (1) chassis frames, and (2) frame sections. Chassis assemblies may or may not include axles, wheel end components, steering cylinders, engine assembly, transmission, drive shafts, tires and wheels, crawler tracks and wheels, fuel tank, hydraulic oil tanks, battery assemblies, and/or other components;
- boom turntable assemblies, for connection to chassis assemblies, or to boom assemblies. Boom turntable assemblies include turntable frames. Boom turntable assemblies may or may not include engine assembly, slewing rings, fuel tank, hydraulic oil tank, battery assemblies, counterweights, hoods (enclosures), and/or other components.
Importation of any of these subassemblies, whether assembled or unassembled, constitutes unfinished mobile access equipment for purposes of this investigation.
Processing of finished and unfinished mobile access equipment and subassemblies such as trimming, cutting, grinding, notching, punching, slitting, drilling, welding, joining, bolting, bending, beveling, riveting, minor fabrication, galvanizing, painting, coating, finishing, assembly, or any other processing either in the country of manufacture of the in-scope product or in a third country does not remove the product from the scope. Inclusion of other components not identified as comprising the finished or unfinished mobile access equipment does not remove the product from the scope.
The scope excludes forklifts, vertical mast lifts, mobile self-propelled cranes and motor vehicles that incorporate a scissor arm assembly or boom assembly. Forklifts are material handling vehicles with a working attachment, usually a fork, lifted along a vertical guide rail with the operator seated or standing on the chassis behind the vertical mast. Vertical mast lifts are person and material lifting vehicles with a working attachment, usually a platform, lifted along a vertical guide rail with an operator standing on the platform. Mobile self-propelled cranes are material handling vehicles with a boom attachment for lifting loads of tools or materials that are suspended on ropes, cables, and/or chains, and which contain winches mounted on or near the base of the boom with ropes, cables, and/or chains managed along the boom structure. The scope also excludes motor vehicles (defined as a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways, but does not include a vehicle operated only on a rail line pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 30102(a)(7)) that incorporate a scissor arm assembly or boom assembly. The scope further excludes vehicles driven or drawn by mechanical power operated only on a rail line that incorporate a scissor arm assembly or boom assembly. The scope also excludes: (1) rail line vehicles, defined as vehicles with hi-rail gear or track wheels, and a fixed (non-telescopic) main boom, which perform operations on rail lines, such as laying rails, setting ties, or other rail maintenance jobs; and (2) certain rail line vehicle subassemblies, defined as chassis subassemblies and boom turntable subassemblies for rail line vehicles with a fixed (non-telescopic) main boom.
Certain mobile access equipment subject to this investigation is typically classifiable under subheadings 8427.10.8020, 8427.10.8030, 8427.10.8070, 8427.10.8095, 8427.20.8020, 8427.20.8090, 8427.90.0020 and 8427.90.0090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Parts of certain mobile access equipment are typically classifiable under subheading 8431.20.0000 of the HTSUS. While the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes only, the written description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.
Comments on the scope of these investigations are due by April 7.
Investigations Timetable
| Event | AD Duty | CV Duty |
|---|---|---|
| Petitions filed | 02/26/21 | 02/26/21 |
| DOC initiation date | 03/18/21 | 03/18/21 |
| ITC prelim determinations | 04/12/21 | 04/12/21 |
| DOC prelim determinations | 08/05/21 | 05/24/21 |
| DOC final determinations | 10/19/21 | 08/05/21 |
| ITC final determinations | 12/03/21 | 09/20/21 |
| Issuance of orders | 12/10/21 | 09/27/21 |
These deadlines may, and usually are, extended. The Commerce Department fact sheet on the initiation of these investigations is (here). See 2103030041 for a summary of the petition requesting these investigations.