Contact: R.J. Hufnagel, rhufnagel@usw.org, 412-562-2450
The United Steelworkers (USW) union today applauded the U.S. Commerce Department’s decision to initiate an investigation of Vietnam’s currency manipulation as an illegal subsidy on passenger vehicle and light truck (PVLT) tires, as part of its investigation into unfairly traded PVLT imports from four countries.
The USW filed antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) petitions against four countries on May 13. This included a countervailing duty petition on PVLT from Vietnam, alleging that the Vietnamese government’s systematic undervaluation of the dong in relation to the U.S. dollar constitutes an illegal subsidy.
The Commerce Department issued new rules earlier this year that allowed currency undervaluation to be considered as an illegal subsidy.
“U.S. workers have for too long borne the brunt of a broken trade system,” said USW International President Tom Conway. “When a country like Vietnam artificially suppresses its currency for the purpose of propping up its own industry, we need to treat that like we would any other illegal subsidy. Importantly, these USW-initiated charges of currency manipulation are the first time they are being challenged under the new rules by the Department of Commerce.”
“We need swift and decisive action. Thousands of community-supporting domestic jobs depend on it,” Conway said.
At the same time that the USW filed the CVD petition against Vietnam, it also filed antidumping petitions against Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The International Trade Commission (ITC) is expected to vote on preliminary determinations in that case on July 14.
The USW is the largest North American union in tire manufacturing, representing workers at tire plants in eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, New York and Virginia.
The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, mining, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, the service, public and health care sectors and higher education.