USW generally OK with ITC's OTR tire decision

WASHINGTON (Feb. 23, 2016) — The United Steelworkers (USW) union is generally pleased with the International Trade Commission's (ITC) Feb. 19 decision on off-the-road (OTR) tires.

The union and Titan Tire Corp. had filed a joint petition Jan. 8 requesting antidumping and countervailing duty investigations against OTR tires mounted on wheels imported from China and against both mounted and unmounted OTR tires imported from India and Sri Lanka.

On Feb. 19, the ITC voted 6-0 that there is reasonable indication that Indian and Sri Lankan OTR tire imports are causing injury to the U.S. OTR tire industry. However, it also ruled 6-0 that mounted OTR tires imported from China have a negligible effect on the U.S. OTR industry.

“The commission vote puts USW-represented tire workers one step closer to the relief they need from unfairly traded off-the-road tires,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard in a Feb. 22 statement.

“Countries around the world are dumping and subsidizing their products to take advantage of our market, forcing us to fight unfair trade after injury has already been inflicted,” Mr. Gerard said. “Our government should be initiating action, not us.”

Mr. Gerard said he was disappointed in the commission's decision on mounted Chinese OTR tires, but he added that the USW and Titan won a previous case on unmounted Chinese OTR tires.There have been high antidumping and countervailing duties on unmounted Chinese OTR tires since 2008, the year after Titan and the USW petitioned the ITC for relief.

The International Trade Administration's data sheet on the case showed the value of mounted OTR tires from China in 2015 at just $6.2 million.

Meanwhile, the USW is pleased the ITC and the Commerce Department are proceeding swiftly on the union's petition for antidumping and countervailing duties against truck and bus tires imported from China, Mr. Gerard said.

The ITC held a preliminary hearing on the Chinese truck and bus tire petition Feb. 19, the same day the Commerce Department decided there was sufficient evidence of injury to initiate an investigation against Chinese truck and bus tire imports.

The USW represents roughly 6,000 workers at five truck and bus tire plants in the U.S. that account for more than two thirds of domestic capacity for truck and bus tires: Bridgestone Americas in LaVergne and Waren County, Tenn.; Goodyear in Danville, Va., and Topeka, Kan.; and Sumitomo Rubber North America in Buffalo, N.Y.