WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of International Trade has ruled that a 0.95-percent countervailing duty imposed by the U.S. government on OTR tire imports from Sri Lanka should be removed.
The decision, disclosed July 11, was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Association of Manufacturers & Exporters of Rubber Products (SLAMERP), which said this decision is the first-ever revocation of a U.S. countervailing duty imposed on a Sri Lankan export.
According to the Sri Lankan group, the U.S. duties had been linked to a guaranteed price scheme on the import of OTR tires from Sri Lanka.
The ruling "will bring about significant reinforcement to the tire industry," Prabhash Subasinghe, chairman of SLAMERP and managing director of Global Rubber Industries, said.
"With respect to the regulations set up by the World Trade Organization, the removal of this 0.95-percent duty also eliminates a larger 2.18-percent countervailing duty on the imports of OTR tires from Sri Lanka to the U.S.," he added.
The U.S. Department of Commerce issued the countervailing duties against imports of OTR tires from Sri Lanka and India and Sri Lanka in January 2017.
Commerce took the action in response to a petition for relief filed in January 2016 by Titan International Inc. and the United Steelworkers under Sections 701 and 731 of the Trade Act.