The US Department of Commerce on Tuesday said that it had opened investigations into vehicle tire imports from Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam to determine whether they were being sold below fair value.
The department said it was also investigating whether tire producers in Vietnam were receiving unfair subsidies for passenger vehicle and light truck (PVLT) tires.
The investigations were in response to petitions filed last month by the United Steelworkers (USW) representing workers at US tire plants.
SHRINKING MARKET
“Even though demand for PVLT tires increased, domestic producers were still forced to grapple with reduced market share, falling profits and lost jobs,” USW International president Tom Conway said earlier.
The US imported almost US$4 billion in tires from the four nations, including nearly US$2 billion from Thailand and US$1.2 billion from South Korea last year.
The USW said tire imports from the four countries have risen nearly 20 percent since 2017, reaching 85.3 million tires.
The department said the alleged dumping margins range from 21 percent to 116 percent for Taiwan; 43 percent to 195 percent for South Korea; 106 percent to 217.5 percent for Thailand; and 5 percent to 22 percent for Vietnam.
The USW represents workers at Michelin Group, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co, Sumitomo Corp and Yokohama Rubber Co plants in Ohio, Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas, Indiana, Virginia New York and Alabama.
‘ROBUST GROWTH’
This month, Hankook Tires Co urged the department not to investigate, saying the US domestic tire industry “is in robust health and growing.”
It said in a filing that domestic vehicle tire producers “as a whole have not been materially injured and are not threatened with material injury by reason of subject imports.”
The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade told the department that its economy is “heavily dependent on light vehicles and passenger cars for transportation, logistics and travel and the PVLT tire industry is crucial for our continued economic advancement.”
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