WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Commerce Department is postponing until Oct. 30 the deadline for it to rule on the countervailing-duty investigation into passenger and light truck tire imports from Vietnam, at the request of the petitioner, the United Steelworkers (USW) union.
The USW petitioned Commerce for the delay in order to permit Commerce additional time to review respondents' initial full questionnaire responses, any comments thereon and rebuttal factual information filed in response, according to a notice in the Federal Register issued by the Enforcement and Compliance office of Commerce's International Trade Administration.
The deadline had been Aug. 26.
The USW also noted that an extension is warranted due to the number of programs under investigation, including Commerce's first investigation of a currency undervaluation subsidy under its new rules.
The USW alleges that the Vietnamese government's systematic undervaluation of the Vietnamese dong in relation to the U.S. dollar constitutes a countervailable subsidy. It noted in May when it filed its petition that it was the first time a petition included claims of a currency undervaluation subsidy under new rules the Department of Commerce issued earlier this year.
The notice said Commerce found no "compelling reason" to deny that request and postponed the deadline to no later than 130 days after the date on which the investigation was initiated, or Oct. 30.
This delay means the deadline for the department's final determination of the CVD investigation will be 75 days after the date of the preliminary determination, or the second week of January 2021, unless postponed at a later date.