US chassis makers allege foreign dumping again

A group of U.S. intermodal equipment manufacturers is petitioning the Trump administration for anti-dumping duties on foreign-made chassis. 

The U.S. Chassis Manufacturers Coalition on Wednesday filed petitions alleging that chassis imported from Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam are hurting American producers.

Chassis are the skeletal trailers used to transport shipping containers by road.

The petitions with the Commerce Department and United States International Trade Commission (USITC) ask for anti-dumping duties to counteract what the makers say are unfair trade practices, according to a release from Wiley Rein LLP, a Washington law firm representing the chassis coalition.

It’s the second time that the domestic industry has asked for protection against imported chassis. In 2020, chassis makers petitioned the first Trump administration for anti-dumping duties on China-based manufacturer CIMC, which were eventually granted by the Biden administration in 2021. Those duties helped push up prices of domestic-made chassis but also contributed to massive supply chain issues during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The U.S. chassis industry suffered years of injury at the hands of unfairly traded Chinese chassis,” said attorney Robert DeFrancesco of Wiley Rein, in the release. “After having successfully achieved relief, the U.S. industry saw a second surge of unfair imports from new sources. While the sources of dumped and subsidized imports have shifted, they still have the same effect: taking domestic market share and eroding a proud American manufacturing industry.”

DeFrancesco called on Commerce and the USITC to “apply our long-standing trade laws to remedy these unfair trade practices.”

The manufacturers are seeking anti-dumping duties of 32.37% on chassis imported from Mexico, 234.06% on those from Thailand and 304.68% on chassis from Vietnam.

DeFrancesco did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.

The coalition in the petition alleges that producers in Mexico and Thailand benefit from subsidies and other government support. “There is also evidence that the government of the People’s Republic of China has provided crossborder subsidies that benefit chassis manufacturers in Mexico and Thailand,” the release stated.

The makers said CIMC dodged the punitive duties by relocating U.S.-dedicated production to Thailand.

“As a result of the decreasing volumes caused by unfairly traded imports, U.S. producers have suffered significant declines in production, shipments, profits, and employment,” the release stated.

Dorsey Intermodal, Hercules Chassis, Pratt Intermodal Chassis and Stoughton Trailers were among the domestic makers backing the original China petitions. 

In a statement, CIE Manufacturing Vice President of Sales and Marketing Ben Evans called the allegations “baseless,” accusing domestic makers of weaponizing trade regulations at the expense of the industry. Evans characterized the CIMC charges as a pyrrhic victory, helping push up chassis prices by 75% while shrinking available capacity.

CIE imports chassis frame subassemblies from Thailand, Evans said, with final assembly of other components, including suspensions and axles, in Emporia, Virginia, and Southgate, California.

Industry sources said a chassis that sold for $10,000 to $15,000 prior to the CIMC duties now costs $20,000 to $25,000.

There are more than 750,000 chassis in North America registered with the Global Intermodal Equipment Registry. In an interview with FreightWaves, DeFrancesco said the overwhelming majority are foreign-made. 

“It feels like we’re being targeted,” Evans said in an interview with FreightWaves. “We originally imported entire chassis from China, and after those duties changed our entire business model. Now we have to go through the whole process again. It’s a huge disruption to our business.”

The Commerce Department will determine whether to initiate the investigations within 20 days of the filing, and the USITC will reach a preliminary determination of material injury or threat of material injury within 45 days. The entire investigative process will take approximately one year, DeFrancesco said, with final determinations likely in early 2026. He said duties can attach to imports of the subject chassis at the time of the preliminary determinations in the case, or even earlier.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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