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Stoughton Trailers has won the first round in a complaint alleging unfair competition from Mexico, Vietnam and Thailand.
The April 11 decision from the U.S. International Trade Commission could result in steep import duties applied to intermodal trailers made in the three countries – shoring up the U.S. marketplace for Stoughton Trailers and other domestic trailer chassis manufacturers.
Intermodal trailers, an essential part of the nation’s transportation system, transfer goods between trucks, trains and ships without unloading the cargo.
Duties, similar to tariffs, help enforce trade policies through taxation on imports.
A U.S. industry coalition led by Stoughton and Cheetah Chassis Corp., of Berwick, Pa., has sought 302% duties on intermodals from Vietnam, 181% from Thailand, and 32% from Mexico.
The coalition alleges the imported trailers have been sold in the U.S. at below fair market value, a business practice known as “dumping” under trade regulations.
Import data shows the value of the trailer chassis and sub-assemblies from Mexico, Vietnam and Thailand totaled nearly $1 billion in 2024.
“American chassis producers are suffering as a result of dumped and subsidized imports…which have devastated the U.S. market,” Robert DeFrancesco, an attorney for the coalition said in a statement.
It’s similar to a complaint the U.S. trailer coalition brought to federal officials in 2021 alleging that China was selling intermodal trailers in the U.S. at below fair market values.
Ultimately, three Chinese companies controlled more than 86% of the world’s supply of intermodal trailers, and those same companies built more than 95% of the containers those trailers hauled, according to a report from U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel in 2020.
One Chinese manufacturer in particular was selling heavily subsidized trailers for less than the cost of the steel in the frame, the coalition of U.S. companies claimed in their trade violation complaint.
The Chinese manufacturers — and, notably, some in the U.S. transportation industry — viewed the dispute much differently. They said coalition members had themselves to blame for not responding to changes in the marketplace, and for not investing in new designs and factory automation.
But after duties of more than 200% were applied, the coalition said, the Chinese manufacturers moved work to Vietnam, Thailand and Mexico, and continued with unfair trade practices.
It’s called “country hopping,” said Stoughton Trailers President and CEO Bob Wahlin.
“Not only are they supporting those facilities in those other countries with the same tactics, they’re also able to move products from China into those countries and basically circumvent the tariff,” Wahlin said.
A Journal Sentinel email to one of the largest Chinese trailer manufacturers involved in the latest dispute was not answered.
The USITC decision clears the way for the Commerce Department to move forward with an investigation and to impose duties as early as May 22. Final decisions in the case will come later.
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