The United States will impose countervailing duties on imported Mexican and Thai intermodal chassis and subassemblies after a vote by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Antidumping duties, meanwhile, will be imposed on imports of the chassis and subassemblies from Mexico, Thailand and Viet Nam, the federal agency said.

In the May 20 vote, the three-member ITC finalized the duties after an investigation prompted by a February 2025 petition from a coalition led by Stoughton Trailers and Cheetah Chassis Corp.

The coalition accused manufacturers in the three countries of selling their products below market prices and receiving anticompetitive government support.

When such a petition is received, the Department of Commerce investigates whether producers or exporters are dumping or receiving unfair subsidies, while the ITC investigates whether the domestic industry is injured or faces a threat of injury because of the potentially dumped or subsidized imports.

The ITC determined in a split vote May 20 that U.S. manufacturers were materially injured by the chassis and subassembly imports after Commerce decided those types of trailers were being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value and subsidized by the Mexican and Thai governments. Details of the ITC members’ views and information discovered during the investigation will be publicly available by July 1.

Commerce finalized its affirmative subsidy determinations in April. All Mexican producers were assessed countervailing duty rates of 76.91%. The sole mandatory respondent was Hyundai Translead affiliate Hyundai de Mexico.

Thai duties will be between 9.65% and 10.72%, said the complainant — the U.S. Chassis Manufacturers Coalition.

Mexican countervailing duties fully offset antidumping rates for manufacturers from the country. Commerce also will impose antidumping duties of 72.85%-129.63% and 186.84%, respectively, on imports from Thailand and Viet Nam.

“We are very pleased with the outcome of the trade cases … The ruling sends a clear message that the U.S. government will not allow unfair trade practices to undermine U.S. manufacturing and U.S. workers, especially in an industry critical to American supply chains and interstate commerce,” Stoughton Trailers CEO Bob Wahlin told Transport Topics in an email.

“Stoughton is optimistic about the future and believes this decision will help create a healthier environment for continued investment, growth, and innovation across the domestic intermodal container chassis industry,” Wahlin added.

Orders remain effective for a minimum of five years but can be tweaked each year following an annual administrative review process. The rates are applied on top of Section 232 duties on steel derivative products that are currently applied to the full value of imported chassis.

The federal government shutdown that began in November 2025 delayed proceedings by 47 days, while a backlog in filings after the shutdown added 21 more days to the timeline.

Commerce in June 2025 announced preliminary affirmative determinations in the countervailing duty investigations of chassis from Mexico and Thailand. At that time, the subsidy rates for all Mexican entities under investigation were 133.18%. Thai companies subject to the complaint did not receive uniform subsidy assessments, with Dee Siam Manufacturing assessed at 9.42%, Panus Assembly at 2.24% and all others at 7.97%.

In September 2025, Commerce made public its preliminary affirmative determinations in the antidumping duty investigations of Mexican-, Thai- and Vietnamese-origin chassis.

Manufacturers in Mexico — led by units of Hyundai, DeLucio and Fruehauf — were assessed a dumping margin of 32.37%. Thai entities Dee Siam and Panus were assessed margins of 46.12% and 181.57%, respectively, while all other exporters were assessed at 46.12%.

The ITC concluded in an April 2025 preliminary determination that there was a reasonable indication to support the petitions.

The petition argued that domestic manufacturers suffered declines in production, shipments and employment as a result of the alleged business practices.

According to U.S. import data, the value of imports of chassis and subassemblies from the three countries at the center of the complaint totaled almost $1 billion in 2024. Of this total, more than $950 million in imports arrived from Mexico, while imports valued at more than $26.85 million were shipped from Thailand and more than $18.57 million from Viet Nam.

Since the investigation began, Hyundai Translead has announced plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing capacity with two facilities in Will County, Ill.

The company will maintain operations at its Rosarito, Mexico, facility. The Joliet, Ill., project was in development for about three years, driven by logistics constraints and capacity limitations at the Rosarito plant.

Source: TTNews

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