WASHINGTON, June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) released its preliminary finding that the governments of China and Mexico unfairly subsidize their van-type trailer industries. Commerce calculated countervailing duties ranging from 82.3% to 128.7% for trailers from China and 1.9% to 1.95% for trailers from Mexico. The American Trailer Manufacturers Coalition – a coalition of leading U.S. trailer producers Great Dane LLC, Stoughton Trailers LLC, and Wabash Corporation – applauds Commerce's decision to impose preliminary duties as the first step towards introducing fairness in the U.S. van-type trailer market and looks forward to Commerce's antidumping preliminary determination later this summer.

Commerce's determination establishes the preliminary duty rates in the subsidy portions of this investigation. Following the publication of Commerce's preliminary determination in the Federal Register in approximately one week, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to begin suspending liquidation and collecting preliminary duties (in the form of cash deposits) on entries of in-scope trailers from China and Mexico. At the Coalition's request, Commerce is no longer investigating Canadian subsidies, but Commerce has indicated that it will apply the Chinese countervailing duties against Chinese trailers and subassemblies shipped to the United States through Canada. 

This is a preliminary determination only, and Commerce continues to investigate several allegations that may increase the rate for the final determination. The final countervailing duty determination regarding China will be aligned with the unextended China antidumping final determination, which is expected to be issued in August 2026. The final countervailing duty determination regarding Mexico is also aligned and is expected to be issued in December 2026, consistent with an extended antidumping timeline.

Importantly, these duty rates are only for Commerce's countervailing duty investigation. They do not yet include the rates from the ongoing antidumping investigations of van-type trailers, which will be added to the preliminary subsidy rates. Commerce's preliminary dumping determination for China will be publicly announced on June 9th, while preliminary dumping determinations for Canada and Mexico will be publicly announced on due July 30th.

"When foreign governments prop up exports, U.S. companies and workers pay the price," said Robert E. DeFrancesco, trade counsel to the Petitioner and a partner in the International Trade Practice at Wiley. "The Commerce Department's decision helps counter these unfair practices in Mexico, where Commerce recently found that the largest producer also received subsidies for a related product, and China, where the primary trailer producer is part of a Chinese, state-owned entity."

The duties that will be imposed following this decision are assessed on the importer of record of the merchandise. Duty evasion, absorption, and circumvention are illegal and closely monitored by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in conjunction with Commerce.

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SOURCE American Trailer Manufacturers Coalition