U.S. Tied to China's Tire

A few days ago, the United States Steel Workers’ Union (USW) submitted a memorandum to the United States Court of International Trade requesting the court to order the cancellation of the International Trade Commission’s (ITC) decision to import truck and bus tires from China. The decision was: On February 22nd, ITC ruled that 3-2, Chinese truck and bus tires did not cause major losses to the US truck and bus tire industry.

If approved and implemented, China's truck and bus tires will be hit harder again. The U.S. Department of Commerce filed a complaint with CIT as early as April 14, 2017, arguing that the agency's decision was inconsistent with all relevant evidence in anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases. The document on September 1 this year expanded the arguments of USW and endorsed the motion.
"In the analysis of competitive conditions, the majority (ITC commissioner) concluded that due to differences in quality, warranty, grade and other non-price characteristics of Chinese tires, buyers will purchase higher-priced tires." USW in its The memo said. However, this conclusion has not been supported by substantial evidence.

USW stated that the determination of the ITC of the International Trade Court that most affected the unfavorable prices of the US tire market has not been supported by evidence. "Most people mistakenly concluded that the cost of raw material costs has fallen, failing to explain why prices have fallen faster than the cost of the aftermarket, and competitors' imports are very large."

Of course, representatives of tire manufacturers from China insist that ITC is very reasonable in making a negative decision, and this also leads to a correct conclusion. Walt Weller, a local tire company's dual-tire tire dealer, said: "We believe that ITC is indeed correct and that USW's appeal is worthless."

Earlier on January 23, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed a 9% to 22.57% anti-dumping duty on China Truck Tire Company. The final countervailing duty was 38.61% to 65.46%. On February 14, the US Department of Commerce lowered the countervailing duty rate to 20.98% to 63.34%. The previous USW successfully appealed against the double taxation of Chinese truck and bus tires.