AKRON — Goodyear does not expect possible elevated U.S. import duties on tires from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam — should they be imposed — to have much of an effect on its business because of its emphasis on the premium sector.
"As a rule of thumb for Goodyear, we tend to manufacture where we sell," CFO Darren Wells told financial analysts in a conference call covering the firm's second quarter results.
"So, in terms of imports or exports, the tariffs would not impact us as such. And remember these actions tend to impact the lower end of the market and not sort of the premium segments where we're focused."
Mr. Wells was responding to a question about the Commerce Department's ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty investigation in passenger and light truck tire imports from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
"But look, at the end of the day, we don't expect a big impact on us in terms of volume, particularly because of our premium focus," he said. "So as those industry disruptions take place, we're going to — as we did last time stick to our game and stick to our strategy, and we're happy to do it."