POLITICO Weekly Trade: Trailer Trade

By Ari Hawkins
With help from Marcia Brown

TRAILER TRADE: American trailer manufacturers are touting a preliminary Commerce Department finding that China and Mexico unfairly subsidize their van-type trailer industries.

The agency proposed duties of between 82 percent and 129 percent on related Chinese imports and about 2 percent to 63 percent on Mexican imports last week. Final determinations are expected in the coming months.

“We applaud Commerce’s ruling and are hopeful for continued progress as preliminary antidumping determinations approach,” wrote American Trailer Manufacturers Coalition, which represents U.S. trailer manufacturers, in a statement to Morning Trade. “With strong trade relief that addresses both foreign subsidies and unfair dumping, the U.S. government can save the 50,000 American jobs supported by this industry from the threat of unfair trade.”