Titan awaits ITC ruling in tire-dumping case against China, India

A ruling from the International Trade Commission is expected later this week in a case brought by Titan Tire Corp. and the United Steelworkers against several foreign tire companies.

Titan and the union on Jan. 8 filed anti-dumping petitions against certain off-the-road tires from China and India, and countervailing duty petitions on imports of certain off-the-road tires from China, India and Sri Lanka. The ITC began its preliminary injury investigation; held a preliminary injury conference; and collected information from domestic producers, foreign producers and importers. The commission will vote Friday on whether the domestic tire industry has been injured or threatened by the foreign manufacturers.

Titan Chairman and CEO Maurice Taylor said tires from China and India are being dumped on the domestic market and appear to be subsidized by federal governments to sell tires below cost in clear violation of U.S. law.

"There are already duties on Chinese tire manufacturers, but they have put a steel wheel in the tire, so it's not classified a tire. The joke about this is that there is a duty on steel now, but by assembling the steel wheel with the tire, there is no duty on the assembly," Taylor said.

Some U.S. off-road equipment manufacturers have welcomed the cheap foreign tires but have not commented on China blocking corn grown by U.S. farmers from entering their country.

Titan won an anti-dumping case against Chinese manufacturers in 2008 when the ITC voted 5-1 to impose duties on Chinese tires that were flooding the U.S. market at prices that were underpriced by an average of 24 percent. The ruling allowed the U.S. Department of Commerce to require cash deposits equal to the dumping and subsidization found in those imported tires.

Titan International Inc. is a holding company owning subsidiaries that supply wheels, tires, assemblies and undercarriage products for off-highway equipment used in agricultural, earthmoving, construction and consumer markets. Quincy is the company's international headquarters and home to one of its larger manufacturing facilities.