Union Wants U.S. to Expedite China Tire Decision

The USW has filed a petition with the Commerce Department seeking an expedited decision and implementation of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese-produced consumer tires exported to the U.S.

Formally known as a Petitioner’s Critical Circumstance Allegation, the action, taken in a formal letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker in a Sept. 12 filing, claims that “there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that there have been massive imports” of such tires in a “relatively short period,” which the Commerce Department defines as a three-month period starting from when the original petition was filed, in this case June 3.

According to the USW’s latest filing, imports of China-made consumer tires “have increased 23% by value and 26% by volume.” In charts the USW included in the filing, it shows that the monthly average during the March-May period was 4.823 million such tires were imported, while the monthly average in the June-July period was 6.102 million.

Download a copy of the USW filing here.

It is suspected that any such sharp increases in tire imports may well be various manufacturers and marketers working to get as much China-produced inventory stateside before any tariffs or duties are instituted.

The 34-page petition asks that the Commerce Department “issue a preliminary affirmative determination of critical circumstances at the earliest practical time, but no later than the preliminary determination, which is currently scheduled for Nov. 21, 2014.”Atturo Tire Corp., from its U.S. Twitter account, commented on the news, saying “Yeah, I’d call it a surge! The irony is those trying to beat the duty, could trigger retroactive charges.”