Canadian trailer manufacturers have scored a significant — though partial — victory in the escalating U.S. trade battle over van-type trailers.

The American Trailer Manufacturers Coalition announced the U.S. Department of Commerce is no longer investigating alleged Canadian subsidies as part of its countervailing duty (CVD) case involving trailer imports from Canada, Mexico and China.

“At the Coalition’s request, Commerce is no longer investigating Canadian subsidies,” the coalition said in a statement issued following Commerce’s preliminary CVD determination.

The move means Canadian manufacturers are no longer facing potential countervailing duties tied to alleged government subsidies. However, Canada remains subject to a separate anti-dumping (AD) investigation that continues moving forward.

Preliminary dumping determinations for Canada and Mexico are expected July 30.

The development represents an important shift in a case that Canadian manufacturers had repeatedly described as an “existential crisis” for the domestic trailer sector.

Executives from Manac, ITD Industries and Di-Mond Truck Body argued in interviews with trucknews.com that Canadian companies were being swept into a much larger geopolitical trade battle largely centered on China and Mexico. You can read that full report here.

“We’re collateral damage,” Philip Turi, chief operating officer of ITD Industries, said during an interview.

The coalition’s latest statement appears to partially support that argument.

While Canadian subsidies are no longer being pursued, Commerce indicated it will continue applying Chinese countervailing duties to Chinese trailers and subassemblies shipped into the U.S. through Canada.

That detail highlights ongoing American concerns surrounding tariff circumvention and Chinese-linked manufacturing operations in North America.

The coalition nonetheless applauded Commerce’s preliminary decision, calling it “the first step towards introducing fairness in the U.S. van-type trailer market.”

The preliminary countervailing duty determinations currently apply only to China and Mexico. Commerce will begin instructing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend liquidation and collect preliminary duties on in-scope trailer imports from those countries once the determination is published in the Federal Register.

The coalition also emphasized the current determinations involve only the subsidy portion of the investigations. Anti-dumping duties — which remain active against Canada, Mexico and China — could still significantly increase overall duty exposure.

Commerce’s preliminary anti-dumping determination for China is expected June 9, while preliminary determinations for Canada and Mexico are expected July 30.

While the removal of the Canadian subsidy allegations lowers the potential stacking effect of combined duties, the anti-dumping case alone could still result in substantial tariffs on Canadian-built trailers entering the U.S. market.

Manufacturers have warned that the combined impact of Section 232 tariffs and anti-dumping duties threaten to disrupt the deeply integrated North American trailer supply chain, raise trailer prices, reduce competition, and lengthen lead times for trucking fleets.

Jean-Marc Picard, general manager of the Canadian Transportation Equipment Association, reacted to the announcement, telling trucknews.com the anti-dumping investigation should also be dropped.

“It’s obviously good news for the companies that were involved in the investigation but it would also be good to abort the anti-dumping investigation as well,” Picard said of the announcement.   

“This investigation has put a lot of strain on the companies involved. The coalition of trailer manufacturers that launched the case import a lot of trailers into Canada compared to us into the U.S., which made these allegations very bizarre to say the least. The [Section 232] tariffs are essentially keeping the Canadian trailer manufacturers out of the U.S. right now.”