The U.S. Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission have published a notice of continuation of anti-dumping duty orders for certain PLT tires made in China.
The agencies have determined that revocation of anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty orders on "certain passenger and light truck tires from the People's Republic of China would likely lead to the continuation or recurrence of dumping and countervailing subsidies and material injury to an industry in the U.S."
The declaration follows sunset review orders of the tariffs initiated this past January.
The tariffs date back to 2015.
"Tires covered by these orders may be tube-type, tubeless, radial or or non-radial and they may be intended for sales to original equipment manufacturers or the replacement markets. all tires with a P or LT prefix and all tires with an LT suffix in their sidewall markings are covered by these orders regardless of intended use. In addition, all tires that lack a P or LT prefix or suffix in their sidewall markings, as well as tires that include any other prefix or suffix in their sidewall marking, are included in the scope, regardless of their intended use, as long as the tire is of a size that is among the numerical size designations listing in the passenger car section or light truck section of the Tire & Rim Association (TRA) Yearbook as updated annually."
Excluded tires include race car tires; new pneumatic tires "of a size that is not listed in the passenger car section or light truck section of the TRA Yearbook;" pneumatic tires that are not new, included retreaded and recycled tires; "tires designed and marked exclusively as temporary-use spare tires for passenger vehicles;" tires that have been designed and marketed exclusively for off-road use; and tires that are "designed and marketed exclusively for specialty tire (ST) use.
U.S. Customs and Border protection will continue to collect countervailing and anti-dumping duty cash deposits at the rates in effect at the time of entry for all imports of subject merchandise.
Historical perspective
Tariffs imposed in 2016 "reduced U.S. consumer tire imports from China drastically," according to MTD's 2017 Facts Issue. "As a result, overall imports were down slightly, although other countries picked up the slack."
These included Thailand, which became the top exporter of PLT tires to the U.S. by the end of 2016, followed by, in descending order, South Korea, China and Canada.
Looking at PLT imports in 2025, as published this past January in MTD's 2026 Facts Issue, China is no longer in the "top 10" exporting nations, in both the overall consumer tire and passenger tire categories. (Among medium truck tire exporters to the U.S., China was the sixth largest last year, having shipped an estimated 1.3 million units.)
