ITC’s container investigation

   The U.S. International Trade Commission recently voted to continue an investigation, first announced in May, of imported 53-foot dry containers used to move intermodal cargo within the United States.
   The ITC said there is “a reasonable indication that the establishment of a U.S. industry is materially retarded by reason of imports of 53-foot domestic dry containers from China that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value.”
   At the end of 2013, there were 1,473,124 domestic containers in use in the United States, according to the Intermodal Association of North America.
   In a notice to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, one of the leading container manufacturers, Singamas Container Holdings, said domestic dry containers exported to the United States “only amounts to a relatively small portion of its revenue.” The company also said “the investigations… will not result in a material adverse impact on the group’s performance and financial position as a whole.”
   The investigation followed a petition from Stoughton Trailers, which has a plant in Evansville, Wis.

This column was published in the July 2014 issue of American Shipper.