Commerce Scope Rulings Find Steel Wheels Not Subject to Trailer Wheel Duties
The Commerce Department recently issued two scope rulings that found wheels and wheel components purportedly imported for passenger vehicle use are not subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on steel wheels 12 to 16.5 inches in diameter from China (A-570-090/C-570-091). In scope rulings issued April 30 and May 3, the agency found that the wheels and wheel components are not intended for use on trailers.
In its April 30 ruling, Commerce examined steel wheels imported by The Wheel Source that are advertised for use with passenger vehicles and stamped with a marking indicating they are “For Automotive Use” only. The agency’s May 3 ruling concerned steel rims and discs imported by U.S. Wheel Corp., which provided to Commerce that the wheel parts were made for incorporation into passenger vehicle wheels only.
The AD/CVD orders in question cover only trailer wheels, and Commerce has said it will determine whether a wheel is a subject trailer wheel on a “case-by-case basis.” The original petition for the AD/CVD orders sets out criteria for differentiating trailer wheels from passenger vehicle wheels, noting that trailer wheels are center mounted, while passenger vehicle wheels are offset to permit the placement of additional features such as brakes. Trailer wheels also have a higher load-carrying capacity for a given wheel size. Commerce has also found in scope rulings that trailer wheels have different bolt patterns and hub bore sizes.
Commerce ruled that the wheel parts imported by U.S. Wheel are meant for models of wheels that it had in a previous scope ruling found are not for trailer use, and not subject to AD/CV duties. “In view of this unrebutted evidence that the requested rims and discs are designed for use in the same wheel series found to be out-of-scope in the U.S. Wheel I Ruling, we find that the analysis set forth in that ruling applies equally here,” Commerce said.
“The requested rims and discs are for passenger vehicle and light truck wheels: (1) that have different and generally larger offsets for a given size of wheel compared to in-scope trailer wheels; (2) there is almost no overlap between hub bore sizes, generally, for both the requested products and the products covered by the scope; (3) when there is overlap in one of these factors, the requested products possess multiple bolt patterns for the given size of wheel and the in-scope trailer wheels only have one; and (4) for each size of wheel, trailer wheels possess higher load ratings than the requested products,” the agency said.
Similarly, for some models of steel wheels imported by The Wheel Source, Commerce found some models included under the importer’s scope request do not share the characteristics of trailer wheels. Those models “have bolt patterns other than '8-6.5,' 70 load ratings ranging from 2500-3000 pounds (which are consistently lower than the load ratings specified in the Petition), positive (i.e., off-center) offsets, and pilot diameters not otherwise overlapping with the in-scope products of the same size,” the agency said.
Some models of steel wheels imported by the Wheel Source do overlap with the characteristics of in-scope trailer wheels. For those, however, the agency found that the stamping of the wheels as not for trailer use, as well as The Wheel Source’s advertising of the steel wheels, indicates that they are nonetheless not intended for trailers, and not subject to AD/CV duties.
“We note that the physical stamping of the wheels in question indicating ‘automotive use only,’ as well as Wheel Source’s statements noting its agreement to add ‘not for trailer use’ to the extant stamping, lend support to the totality of circumstances finding that the requested products are passenger wheels that are distinct from in-scope wheels for trailer use,” Commerce said.