CONTENTS Page Determinations ....................................................................................................................... 1 Views of the Commission ........................................................................................................ 3 Dissenting views of Chairman Meredith M. Broadbent and Commissioners David S. Johanson and F. Scott Kieff ...................................................................................... 47 Part I: Introduction ................................................................................................................ I‐1 Background ................................................................................................................................ I‐1 Statutory criteria and organization of the report ..................................................................... I‐1 Statutory criteria ................................................................................................................... I‐1 Organization of report ........................................................................................................... I‐2 Market summary ....................................................................................................................... I‐3 Summary data and data sources ............................................................................................... I‐3 Previous and related investigations .......................................................................................... I‐4 Nature and extent of subsidies and sales at LTFV .................................................................... I‐5 Nature of the subsidies ......................................................................................................... I‐5 Sales at LTFV .......................................................................................................................... I‐7 The subject merchandise ........................................................................................................ I‐11 Commerce’s scope .............................................................................................................. I‐11 Tariff treatment ................................................................................................................... I‐14 The product ............................................................................................................................. I‐14 Description and applications ............................................................................................... I‐14 Manufacturing processes .................................................................................................... I‐19 Domestic like product issues ................................................................................................... I‐23 Domestic industry ................................................................................................................... I‐24 Part II: Conditions of competition in the U.S. market ............................................................ II‐1 U.S. market characteristics ....................................................................................................... II‐1 U.S. purchasers ......................................................................................................................... II‐1 Channels of distribution ........................................................................................................... II‐3 Market distinctions .................................................................................................................. II‐6 Geographic distribution ........................................................................................................... II‐9 Supply and demand considerations ....................................................................................... II‐10 U.S. supply .......................................................................................................................... II‐10 U.S. demand ....................................................................................................................... II‐13 Substitutability issues ............................................................................................................. II‐18 Lead times .......................................................................................................................... II‐19 Knowledge of country sources ........................................................................................... II‐19 Factors affecting purchasing decisions............................................................................... II‐20 Comparisons of domestic products, subject imports, and nonsubject imports ................ II‐24 Elasticity estimates ................................................................................................................. II‐27 U.S. supply elasticity ........................................................................................................... II‐27 U.S. demand elasticity ........................................................................................................ II‐28 Substitution elasticity ......................................................................................................... II‐28 i CONTENTS Page Part III: U.S. producers’ production, shipments, and employment ....................................... III‐1 U.S. producers ......................................................................................................................... III‐1 U.S. production, capacity, and capacity utilization ................................................................. III‐7 U.S. producers’ U.S. shipments and exports ......................................................................... III‐10 U.S. producers’ inventories ................................................................................................... III‐13 U.S. producers’ imports and purchases ................................................................................ III‐14 U.S. employment, wages, and productivity .......................................................................... III‐15 Part IV: U.S. imports, apparent U.S. consumption, and market shares ................................ IV‐1 U.S. importers.......................................................................................................................... IV‐1 U.S. imports ............................................................................................................................. IV‐3 Critical circumstances .............................................................................................................. IV‐8 Negligibility ............................................................................................................................ IV‐11 Apparent U.S. consumption .................................................................................................. IV‐11 Part V: Pricing data ............................................................................................................... V‐1 Factors affecting prices ............................................................................................................ V‐1 Raw material costs ............................................................................................................... V‐1 U.S. inland transportation costs ........................................................................................... V‐2 Pricing practices ....................................................................................................................... V‐3 Pricing methods .................................................................................................................... V‐3 Sales terms and discounts .................................................................................................... V‐5 Price leadership .................................................................................................................... V‐5 Price data .................................................................................................................................. V‐5 Price trends ......................................................................................................................... V‐14 Price comparisons .............................................................................................................. V‐15 Lost sales and lost revenue .................................................................................................... V‐15 Part VI: Financial experience of U.S. producers .................................................................... VI‐1 Background .............................................................................................................................. VI‐1 Operations on PVLT tires ......................................................................................................... VI‐2 Sales volume ........................................................................................................................ VI‐2 Sales value ........................................................................................................................... VI‐6 Cost of goods sold ............................................................................................................... VI‐6 Financial