WASHINGTON — Commercial vehicle wheel makers Accuride Corp. and Maxion Wheels Akron L.L.C. have petitioned the U.S. government, seeking the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on U.S. imports of certain steel wheels from China.
The petition to the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) covers certain road-going hub- and stud-piloted steel wheels with rim diameters of 22.5 and 24.5 inches designed principally for use on Class 6, 7 and 8 commercial vehicles.
U.S. trade data show the value of "steel wheel products" imports last year as $420 million.
The petition excludes wheels for tube-type tires and wheels intended primarily for off-road use.
The ITC's Bureau of Investigations has scheduled a conference in connection with the investigation for April 17 at the ITC Building in Washington. Requests to appear at the conference should be emailed to [email protected].
Through this investigation, the ITC must determine whether there is a reasonable indication that an industry in the U.S. is materially injured or is threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an industry in the U.S. is materially retarded, by reason of imports from China of steel wheels that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.
The petitioners allege antidumping margins of 11.3 to 231.7 percent and countervailing duty margins of up to 77.3 percent.
The ITC — acting on a petition from Accuride and Hayes Lemmerz International Inc. — investigated the same product category in 2012 but found that imports of steel truck wheels from China did not materially injure or threaten U.S. manufacturers.
Evansville, Ind.-based Accuride is active in three business areas — medium- and heavy-duty steel and aluminum wheels; medium- and heavy-duty vehicle brake drums, disc wheel hubs, spoke wheels and rotors; and wheel-end solutions.
Novi, Mich.-based Maxion is a global supplier of light- and heavy-duty steel and aluminum wheels under the Maxion, Hayes-Lemmerz and Fumagalli brands.