US manufacturers are “materially injured” by imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) said on Wednesday.
The ITC also found that subsidized tires from Vietnam injure domestic manufacturers.
As a result of the order, the US Department of Commerce “will issue antidumping duty orders on imports of these products from Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, and a countervailing duty order on imports of these products from Vietnam,” the ITC said.
Photo: Reuters
The commerce department declined to comment.
The ITC also found imports of tire products from Vietnam sold in the US at less than fair value “are negligible and voted to terminate the antidumping duty investigation concerning Vietnam.”
Last year, the commerce department opened investigations into vehicle tire imports from Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam in response to petitions filed by United Steelworkers (USW) representing workers at US tire plants.
The union praised the ITC determination.
“We’re grateful that the ITC affirmed what USW members see every day: a deliberate effort to undercut our domestic industry and overtake our market,” USW International president Tom Conway said in a statement.
Kevin Johnsen, who chairs the USW Rubber/Plastics Industry Conference, said that the current system is “clearly broken.”
“Before we can get remedies, we must demonstrate harm in the form of lost jobs and reduced market share,” he said. “By that time, American workers are already suffering.”
The union won orders on imported vehicle tires from China in 2015, and Chinese imports to the US have since shrunk dramatically, allowing the domestic industry to invest in new capacity, the union said last year.
The US last year imported US$4.4 billion in tires from Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
The USW previously said that tire imports from the four countries had risen nearly 20 percent since 2017, reaching 85.3 million tires in 2019.
USW represents workers at Michelin North America Inc, 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.
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