US levies heavy duties on China's state-owned tire companies

The U.S. Commerce Department’s preliminary antidumping determination on Chinese passenger and light truck tires went into effect Jan. 27 with the ruling’s publication in the Federal Register.

With the official publication of the decision, nearly 70 manufacturers and importers of the subject Chinese tires and their subsidiaries must now begin paying the preliminary antidumping duties as determined by Commerce, retroactive to 90 days before publication.

The period covered by the agency’s investigation was from Oct. 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014. According to Commerce’s ruling, Giti Tire Global Trading Pte. Ltd. must pay antidumping duties of 19.17 percent, and Sailun Group Co. Ltd. and its subsidiaries must pay duties of 36.26 percent.

For 65 producers and importers of Chinese tires and their subsidiaries, the antidumping duty rate is 27.72 percent. This group includes such well-known companies as Bridgestone Corp., Cooper Tire and Rubber Co., Goodyear Dalian Tire Co., Hankook Tire China Co. Ltd., Pirelli Tyre Co. Ltd., Kumho Tire Co. Inc. and Toyo Tire (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., as well as dozens of tire companies based in the prime tire-making areas of Qingdao and Shandong.

The countrywide duty for the People’s Republic of China—i.e. those companies Commerce did not specifically list—is 87.99 percent.

Racing tires, trailer tires, specialty tires, off-road tires, non-pneumatic tires and temporary spares are exempt from these duties.

Commerce conducted this antidumping investigation and a concurrent countervailing duty investigation after receiving petitions from the United Steelworkers union.

The USW followed up in September asking for a finding of “critical circumstances” in the case. In the Jan. 27 document, the agency preliminarily determined that critical circumstances existed for all companies except Giti and Sailun.

Commerce is requesting comments on this ruling, and interested parties have 30 days counting from Jan. 27 to request a public hearing on the issue. The agency said it will make its final determination on antidumping no later than 135 days after Jan. 27, and the final determination on material injury from the International Trade Commission will be due 45 days after that.

The following are related duties levied on China's tire companies: