Can President Obama reconsider his decision to impose punitive tariffs on certain passenger and light truck tire imports from China? Yes, according to the Tire Industry Association (TIA).
"Under the 421 Safeguard provisions of the World Trade Organization, the president can revisit the decision after six months and go back to the International Trade Commission and modify, remove or leave in place the decision," said the association in a recent missive.
TIA has condemned Obama's decision to levy tariffs on Chinese tires. (See "TIA deeply disappointed by tariff decision,' posted yesterday, Sept. 14, on www.moderntiredealer.com.)
"This tariff will not be a job saver. Rather, when you take into account the thousands of tire industry jobs -- from the technician who services tires to the shop owner (many of whom are small businesspeople) to tire wholesalers -- we predict it will be a job killer."
TIA cited a recently published study by Thomas Prusa, economics professor at Rutgers University, that stated tariffs could lead to a loss of at least 25,000 U.S. jobs.
