Publication of ITC China duties document delayed

WASHINGTON (Aug. 3, 2015) — The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has delayed publishing until late August the public version of its July 14 determination that the U.S. tire industry has suffered “material injury” from imports of consumer tires from China.

The ITC determination makes final the antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese-sourced passenger and light truck tires levied earlier by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The ITC is scheduled to deliver its documents to the Department of Commerce Aug. 3, a spokeswoman said, and Commerce then will prepare a public version, with all “business proprietary” information redacted.

This process generally takes about three weeks, the ITC said. Originally the public version was expected on or around July 27.

When the document becomes available, it will be posted on the USITC website. The publication number will be 4545.

The ITC's vote on material damages was split 3-3, but a 3-3 vote at the agency constitutes an affirmative finding, the commission said at the time.

ITC Vice Chairman Dean Pinkert and Commissioners Irving Williamson and Rhonda K. Schmidtlein voted in the affirmative July 14 to find material injury in the investigation, whereas Chairman Meredith Broadbent and Commissioners David S. Johanson and F. Scott Kieff voted in the negative.

In its June 12 final determination, Commerce affirmed the following countervailing duties:

• 20.73 percent against Cooper Kunshan Tire Co. Ltd.;
• 37.2 percent against Giti Tire (Fujian) Co. Ltd.;
• 100.77 percent against Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Group Co. Ltd.; and
• 30.87 percent against all other Chinese tire manufacturers and exporters.

In antidumping duties, the final Commerce figures were:

• 29.97 percent against Giti Tire Global Trading Pte. Ltd., Giti Tire (USA) Ltd. and six other Giti-affiliated companies;
• 14.35 percent against Sailun Group. Co. Ltd. and nine subsidiaries and affiliates, including Dynamic Tire Corp. and Husky Tire Corp. in Canada;
• 25.3 percent against 65 “separate rate” companies; and
• An 87.99-percent “China-wide” rate on all other companies.

The material injury determination and duties are the culmination of a petition filed in June 2014 by the United Steelworkers union, which sought relief from Chinese imports under Sections 701 and 731 of the Trade Act.

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