5 days ago
Augusta-based golf cart companies applaud tariffs applied to Chinese products
The world's top two golf cart manufacturers, both headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, are cheering a decision they say will help battle Chinese trade practices considered oppressive and unfair.
The nonpartisan U.S. International Trade Commission has announced that Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc. and Club Car LLC, and their domestic competitors, "have been materially injured by unfairly traded imports" of low-speed personal vehicles from China.
The announcement underscores Commerce's stated commitment in June to impose antidumping tariffs of between 119 percent and 478 percent, and countervailing tariffs at rates between 31 percent and 679 percent.
As The Augusta Chronicle first reported in December 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce concluded that China's government has engaged in antidumping and countervailing activities undercutting domestic vehicle makers.
Antidumping is when foreign manufacturers sell goods at less-than-fair value. Countervailing is when a foreign government subsidizes manufacturers to enable them to sell goods cheaply.
The ITC's decision "will help to protect the health of a uniquely American industry and the livelihoods of thousands of American workers who build golf cars, low-speed vehicles, and personal-transportation vehicles to serve customers around the world," said Rob Scholl, president and CEO of Textron Specialized Vehicles.
"This final determination from the U.S. International Trade Commission is a clear win for fair competition and the thousands of American jobs that power our industry," said Craig Scanlon, president and CEO of Club Car.
Law firm Wiley Rein counseled an advocacy group called the American Personal Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers Coalition through its filings of several unfair-trade protests. Wiley Rein announced the ITC's decision on July 17.
