TIA Comments on USW Tariff Petition

May 15, 2020

The Tire Industry Association (TIA) says it is not surprised that the United Steelworkers (USW) union has filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions targeting passenger and light truck tires made in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

“The United Steelworkers petition seeking higher import duties on passenger and light truck tires from Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam reflects how tire manufacturing has grown and evolved in these countries in recent years, with the addition of numerous factories from Chinese tire makers and others,” says TIA CEO Dr. Roy Littlefield Jr.

“The union, in seeking antidumping and countervailing duties, is looking to preserve tire manufacturing jobs in the U.S., while tire retailers have found success selling products imported from these countries. It’s not surprising, therefore, to see this action taken by the USW.”   

The union filed its petition on May 12.

According to MTD research, the four countries targeted by the USW exported 85.3 million consumer tires to the United States in 2019. More than half (45.1 million) came from Thailand. South Korea was the second-largest exporter, shipping 19.3 million tires. Vietnam shipped 11.9 million units and Taiwan shipped nine million consumer tires.

According to the USW petition, the value of imported consumer tires from these four nations has grown by 22.1% since 2017. The USW says that the 71.1 million passenger and light truck tires imported that year from South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam were worth $3.59 billion. The 85.3 million tires imported from those countries last year were worth $4.39 billion.

The USW has a presence at the following tire manufacturers’ United States-based plants: Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (Findlay, Ohio, and Texarkana, Ark.); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (Fayetteville, N.C., and Topeka, Kan.); Michelin North America Inc. (Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Fort Wayne, Ind.); Sumitomo Rubber North America (Tonawanda, N.Y.); and Yokohama Tire Corp. (Salem, Va.)

Those companies are members of the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, which has not yet commented on the union’s petition.

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