A bill has been introduced that would provide tax credits to trucking fleets that buy retreads made in the United States.
The bill, H.R. 8165 (The Commercial Vehicle Fleet Retreaded Tire Utilization Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2022) was introduced this week by Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio.
The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) supports the proposed legislation.
“Retreading of commercial tires in the U.S. market has steadily decreased over the last 25 years,” says Anne Forristall Luke, president and CEO of USTMA.
“By providing tax credits to fleet purchasers who buy U.S.-retreaded commercial tires, the federal government would be helping to level the global playing field for U.S. tire companies and shift the business model back in favor of retreading, which provides a highly effective way to recycle tires, with many notable economic and environmental benefits.”
The USTMA estimates that there are more than 50,000 retreading-related jobs in the U.S. and that Ryan’s bill “would provide a financial incentive to promote U.S.-manufactured retreaded tires, therefore protecting and enhancing the U.S. job market.”
“As USTMA outlined in a letter to Congressional leaders earlier this year, Congress also has an opportunity to lead by example by requiring the purchase of American-made retreaded tires for the federal fleet and any fleet under federal contract, where possible,” add USTMA officials.
The association notes “there is precedent for such policies, including provisions in the Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act of 2015 that mandated the use of remanufactured replacement parts on federal fleet vehicles and a 1991 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) procurement guideline under President George H.W. Bush that required the use of retreaded tires on federal fleet vehicles where practicable.”
