Invasion of Chinese golf carts in America creates industry appeal for Biden administration

Bloomberg – The two largest golf cart manufacturers in the United States are warning of the risk of a flood of Chinese imports.

Club Car and Dextron Specialty Vehicles, based in Augusta, Georgia, this week asked the Joe Biden administration to impose a 100% tax on golf carts and other low-speed personal vehicles, mostly battery-powered, made in China to match the U.S. tax on conventional Chinese electric cars.

“The volume of Chinese imports is increasing rapidly, taking advantage of the price advantages of Chinese government subsidies and gaining a large share of the consumer auto market,” Club Car President and CEO Mark Wagner said in a statement sent on Friday (28). . “We had to act.”

American imports of Chinese and other golf carts Errors Recreational vehicles have increased sixfold since 2020, as they are shipped under product classifications where they are less than those coded as full-size electric vehicles. According to lawyers for American companies, Chinese cabs often avoid higher tariffs by crossing the border at lower rates and then undergoing conversions in the United States.

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As a result, the Biden administration announced in May that golf carts and similar vehicles “could avoid proposed tariff increases for electric vehicles,” according to a letter filed this week by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in Washington.

The dispute between the world’s largest economies is fierce, but it illustrates the number of loopholes, solutions, unintended consequences and legal complications that arise from imposing tariffs across a diverse economy.

Friday is the last day for public comments on the tariffs on Chinese goods.

The request by Club Car and Textron, makers of the EZ-GO and Cushman strollers, was one of hundreds of requests for payment protection or relief posted during the comment period. The two companies filed their case jointly under a group called the American Alliance of Personal Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers.

According to the request, imports of Chinese golf carts and another category of similar products called “specially designated vehicles” totaled $916 million last year, up from $148 million in 2020.

Club Car and Dextron’s competitors in China are “significantly and systematically undercutting domestically produced vehicles,” causing “deteriorating domestic industry performance and sharp declines in production, capacity utilization, exports, employment and financial performance of U.S. manufacturing by 2024,” according to Wiley Law in Washington. According to a June 25 letter to the company.

Its approach to the USDR follows a related lawsuit filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the country’s International Trade Commission, which accused it of dumping Chinese golf carts and sought relief in the form of anti-dumping and countervailing duties.

Robert DeFrancesco, a partner in Wiley’s international trade practice, said the process in this case took about a year.

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