WASHINGTON (July 9, 2008) — The U.S. Department of Commerce issued its final determination July 8 confirming the dumping and countervailing subsidies of imported off-the-road (OTR) tires from China.
“After a thorough investigation, the Department of Commerce has found that Chinese exporters of off-the-road tires have received government subsidies and sold at below the cost of production in the United States,” said Assistant Secretary for Import Administration David Spooner in a statement. “The Bush administration is committed to enforcing U.S. trade laws. In this case, the facts plainly indicate that subsidization and dumping have taken place.”
The Commerce Department said it concluded that exporters from China have sold OTR tires in the U.S. at up to 210.48 percent less than normal value and received government subsidies ranging from 2.45 to 14 percent.
The Commerce Department has proposed a series of duties, varying by company, which is subject to the U.S. International Trade Commission's (ITC) final determination of injury to domestic manufacturers, which is expected to be issued on or about Aug. 21.
If the ITC determines that imports from China are injuring or threaten to injure the domestic tire industry, Commerce will issue the duties orders. If the ITC makes a negative injury determination, the investigations will be terminated.
The latest decision comes more than a year after Titan Tire Corp. and the United Steelworkers (USW) filed a joint petition to the ITC last June asking for duties against Chinese OTR tire makers. Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc. participated in the petition as a domestic interested party.
Commerce's investigation concluded that Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd./Guizhou Advance Rubber, Hebei Starbright Tire Co. Ltd., Tianjin United Tire & Rubber International Co. Ltd. and Xuzhou Xugong Tyre Co. Ltd. received final dumping rates of 4.08, 19.15, 8.09 and zero percent, respectively. Twenty-five other exporters qualified for a separate dumping rate of 9.48 percent. A dumping rate of 210.48 percent was applied to all other Chinese exporters.
Commerce determined that Hebei Starbright, Guizhou Tyre, and Tianjin received net subsidy rates of 14, 2.45, and 6.85 percent, respectively. A final net subsidy rate of 5.62 percent applied to all other Chinese exporters.
According to Commerce data, imports of OTR tires from China jumped 11 percent from 2005 to 2007, attaining an estimated value of $360 million in 2007.