Dacheng Law Office successfully represented Sumitomo Rubber Group in obtaining the lowest national tariff rate in the U.S. anti-dumping review case of tires of passenger cars and light-duty trucks

On August 31, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a preliminary ruling on the sixth anti-dumping review against tires of passenger cars and light-duty trucks in China. In this case, the international trade legal team of Dacheng Law Offices, consisting of Sun Lei, Wu Shasha, Ge Sicong, Xiao Lin and Jin Jing, responded to the lawsuit on behalf of Sumitomo Rubber (Hunan) Co., Ltd and Sumitomo Rubber (Changshu) Co., Ltd. ("Sumitomo Rubber Group"), one of China's top two exporters of tires of passenger cars to the U.S., and obtained the lowest national tariff rate of 0.59%, successfully preserving the U.S. market for its clients.

The U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing investigations against tires of passenger cars and light-duty trucks in China were launched on July 21, 2014. So far, six annual reviews have been carried out. On October 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched the sixth administrative review investigation of this case. In nearly 11 months, Mr. Sun and his team completed the submission of the original and three supplementary questionnaires. During the process of responding to the lawsuit, due to travel restriction caused by the epidemic in China, Mr. Sun and his team guided and assisted the clients and their partners remotely to provide data and information during the daytime, and communicated with the U.S. lawyers and U.S. trade analysts about the presentation methods of previous cases as well as the innovative ideas and optimized plans for this response at night.

Based on their years of experience in the area of trade remedy and experience accumulation of previous cases, the Mr. Sun and his team analyzed the most favorable responding strategies and the optimal submission plan for the clients, and completed the cost factor accounting data required by the U.S. Department of Commerce within the limited deadline for submitting the file when there were period differences between the cost accounting period and the investigation period.

Under the background of tense Sino-U.S. relations, Mr. Sun Lei and his team, through their professional, diligent and responsible work philosophy, greatly reduced the workload of their clients in responding to lawsuits, and resulted in the anti-dumping duty rate obtained by Sumitomo Rubber Group Company in this case being only 1/4 of that in the previous review, which is nearly 16 times lower than their main competitors and nearly 8 times lower than the average duty rate of the industry in this case. This result not only maximizes the interests of the clients, but also ensures that Sumitomo Rubber Group will enjoy absolute and exclusive competitive advantage in the U.S. market for a period of time to come.