WASHINGTON — More than a dozen tire companies from South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand have petitioned the U.S. Department of Commerce to review import duties the U.S. imposed on passenger and light truck tires from those nations in June 2021.
The companies are exercising their rights under U.S. law that provides affected parties to request an administrative review of import duties each year during the anniversary month of the publication of an antidumping or countervailing duty order.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted 4-1 in June 2021 to uphold antidumping duties on consumer tires from South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
The decision cemented elevated import duties on nearly $4 billion worth of imports from the affected nations, as determined earlier by the Commerce Department. That ruling was based on its belief that the tires "are being, or are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value."
The investigation — done in response to a petition from the United Steelworkers (USW) in May 2020 — covered a period from April 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020.
The final antidumping duty rates issued then:
- In South Korea — Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd., 27.05%; Nexen Tire Corp., 14.72%; "all others" 21.74%.
- In Taiwan — Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co. Ltd./Maxxis International, 20.04%; Nankang Rubber Industry Co. Ltd., 101.84%; "all others," 84.75%.
- In Thailand — Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) Co. Ltd., 14.62%; LLIT (Thailand) Co. Ltd. (Linglong), 21.09%; "all others," 17.08%.
In addition, Sailun Vietnam and Kumho Tire Vietnam were assessed countervailing duties of 6.23% and 7.89%, respectively. All other companies were assessed a countervailing duty of 6.46%.
Since the imposition of these duties, imports of passenger and light truck tires from Taiwan have plunged, dropping 79% in the first of 2022 to 1.41 million units from 2.52 million in the same period in 2021.
Among the companies hurt the most was Federal Corp., which closed one factory in Taiwan and is now is a business partnership with Nankang.
The companies petitioning the Commerce Department are asking for a review of business conducted from Jan. 6, 2021, through June 30, 2022.
Those companies include:
- Cheng Shin and Nankang from Taiwan;
- Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd., Kumho Tire Co. Inc. and Nexen Tire Corp. from South Korea; and
- Deestone Corp. Ltd., General Rubber (Thailand) Co. Ltd., LLIT (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Prinx Chengshan Tire (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Maxxis International (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Otani Radial Co. Ltd., Sentury Tire (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) Co. Ltd. from Thailand.
In addition, American Omni Trading Co. L.L.C. submitted a request for review, acting on behalf of Deestone, LLIT (Thailand), General Rubber, Sentury Tire and Zhongce Tire (Thailand) Co. Ltd.
The Commerce Department has as yet not published a schedule of its actions in following up on the companies' requests.
