A golf cart Photo: VCG

The US government recently issued its final ruling on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into low-speed personal transportation vehicles (LSPTVs) oraginating in China, deciding to impose steep duties on these products. A Chinese expert have criticized the ruling as "lacking transparency," saying that the irreplaceability of Chinese products means tariffs will ultimately harm US consumers and industry.

The US Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday that it would levy anti-dumping duties ranging from 119.33 percent to 478.09 percent and anti-subsidy duties between 31.45 percent and 44.38 percent on key Chinese producers. Two companies, which did not participate in the investigation, faces a staggering subsidy rate of 679.44 precent, according to the official website of China's Trade Remedy Information on Thursday.

The US government initiated the anti-dumping and anti-subsidies investigation into LSPTVs from China on July 10, 2024. 

The products under scrutiny include certain LSPTVs (with a maximum speed of 25 mph or less) and their components. These vehicles may be described as golf carts, golf cars, low-speed vehicles, personal transportation vehicles, or light utility vehicles, as detailed in a notice by the US International Trade Administration.

While anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes are permitted under the WTO framework as trade remedy measures, the US allegations against Chinese LSPTV industry appear to lack sufficient evidence, Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday. "In this case, the US side's evidence collection and conclusion-drawing process lacked transparency and may have also lacked factual basis."

If this were truly an anti-dumping case, it would imply that Chinese products are being sold in the US at prices lower than those in China or other third markets—or even below cost. "However, this is clearly not true. In fact, these vehicles are often sold at higher prices in the US than in China, making the 'dumping' accusation untenable," Zhou noted.

Regarding anti-subsidy duties, Zhou noted that LSPTVs are not a priority sector for Chinese government support, nor do they receive special export subsidies. "Therefore, the claim that Chinese companies have gained unfair advantages through subsidies is also baseless," he added.

According to US statistics, the value of the investigated products imported from China in 2023 was approximately $440 million.

Guangdong Lvtong New Energy Electric Vehicle Technology Co, one of the major targeted companies, stated in a response in late May that excessively high tariffs would significantly hinder its future expansion in the US market.

The company plans to strengthen domestic and other overseas market development, accelerate product innovation, enhance competitiveness, and explore new applications to mitigate the adverse effects of the US measures, according to a statement.

Last May, the US government announced plans to raise tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) to 100 percent, as part of broader measures to suppress Chinese EV industries.

A month later, Club Car LLC and Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc, the two largest US golf cart producers, urged the US administration to impose a 100 percent tariff on golf carts and other low-speed, often battery-powered personal vehicles made in China — putting them on par with the US tariff on regular Chinese EVs, Bloomberg reported.

In response, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce expressed strong opposition to the tariff hikes, stating that the US was politicizing economic issues for domestic reasons, calling it a typical case of "political manipulation."

Chinese products are popular in the US primarily due to their high cost-performance ratio and environmentally friendly features, Zhou said, cautioning "If additional duties are imposed, the costs will ultimately be passed on to consumers, harming their interests."

Moreover, the US lacks sufficient domestic substitutes for these products, meaning the tariffs are unlikely to protect its local industries as the government intends, according to Zhou. Instead, these measures may draw more global attention to Chinese products and prompt them to further diversify markets, he said.