U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-GA, is continuing his efforts to protect American-made low speed personal transportation vehicles – especially golf carts which are manufactured in Georgia. Recently, Allen led a bipartisan, bicameral group of his colleagues in sending letters to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Chair Amy Karpel in support of the American low-speed personal transportation vehicle (LSPTV) industry. And late last week, Allen testified before the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) to urge the Commissioners to take immediate action and hold China accountable for unfair trade practices that are harming U.S. producers.
The Central Savannah River Area, encompassing Georgia and South Carolina, has long been the epicenter of U.S. golf cart manufacturing. It is home to two large producers that deliver electric vehicle models for personal and recreational transportation – PTVs, LSVs, and golf carts.
“The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), encompassing much of my district, has long been the epicenter of U.S. golf cart manufacturing. We are home to two large producers that deliver electric vehicle models for personal and recreational transportation: Club Car and E-Z-GO,” Allen testified. “For as long as I can remember, Club Car and E-Z-GO have been pillars of the Georgia economy, providing thousands of jobs in the state. Furthermore, they were—and still are—the standard bearers in the golf cart industry.”
Allen went on to say: “Unfortunately, the futures of these two great American companies are at risk due to the massive influx of dumped and subsidized low speed personal transportation vehicles from China. If the U.S. industry is not provided with the trade relief it so desperately needs, hundreds of U.S. manufacturing jobs could be lost.”
According to Allen, Chinese imports have severely injured the domestic industry and threaten to put it out of business. He pointed out that the U.S. Department of Commerce recently determined that Chinese-manufactured vehicles are being dumped and subsidized to the tune of between 478% and 515%, respectively. These substantial rates demonstrate the degree to which Chinese imports have undersold U.S.-manufactured vehicles, making it all but impossible to compete. This has led to reduced shifts, reductions in workforce, decreases in production, and a sharp decline in profitability for the domestic industry.
In the letter to Secretary Lutnick recently, Allen was joined by Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), and Georgia Democratic Sen.Raphael Warnock. The letter said: “We are very concerned, however, by the actions being taken by Chinese LSPTV producers to circumvent and evade the trade relief needed by the domestic industry. It is clear to us that, since the Department’s preliminary determinations, Chinese LSPTV producers have responded, not by abiding U.S. trade rules, but rather by re-labeling and re-organizing their supply chains in an effort to skirt those very trade disciplines… We ask the Department to take all steps necessary to ensure that Chinese producers do not continue to erode U.S. trade measures, especially given the significant levels of dumping and subsidization that the agency has already found to exist among LSPTV imports from China.”
The letter concluded by asking the Department to take all steps necessary to ensure that Chinese producers do not continue to erode U.S. trade measures, especially given the significant levels of dumping and subsidization that the agency has already found to exist among LSPTV imports from China.”
