BOWIE, Md. (June 18, 2009) — The Tire Industry Association (TIA) released a statement June 17 announcing its opposition to a petition by the United Steelworkers (USW) union to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) asking for limits on the import of Chinese-made passenger and light truck tires.

A majority of ITC commissioners ruled June 18 that they found evidence of market disruption in the domestic tire market caused by Chinese-made passenger and light truck tire imports, and called for quotas on those tires.

In its statement prior to the ITC’s decision, the Bowie-based trade association said it feels strongly that this measure, “despite being well-intentioned, would not help in the preservation of manufacturing jobs and would be harmful to consumers, as these tires are often an affordable solution to those drivers with limited budgets.” TIA also reiterated its long-standing position that all tires—regardless of country of origin—must be held to all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

The following is TIA’s complete statement on quotas of Chinese-made passenger and light truck tires:

“The United Steel Workers (USW), on April 20th, petitioned the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) to determine whether passenger and LT tires from China are being imported in such increased quantities or under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause market disruption to the producers of like or directly competitive products. They are requesting the imposition of an import quota of 21 million tires (2005 levels) with an increase of five percent each year over a three year period. This would reduce current imports by almost half. The Tire Industry Association (TIA) is sympathetic to the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs, but understands that this has occurred over the course of many years and under a multitude of trade policy initiatives.

“TIA believes that a reduction of this magnitude in the quantity of Chinese tires imported would itself create a market disruption, and cause very real harm to our member companies and the U.S. consumer. Our members, by directly importing or contracting with suppliers, are meeting the demands of a segment of the tire consumer market for lower-cost tires. No manufacturing uptick would satisfy this product segment, but instead could create a need for product allocation, resulting in shortages and outages. In the best of times such occurrences are troubling, but in today´s climate could inflict severe financial harm on many retailers and on the motoring public.

“TIA believes that the USITC has the ability to guard against foreign governments supporting the sales of below-cost products, and favors anti-dumping remedies when appropriate. In addition, TIA has long supported requiring that all Chinese tires adhere to applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

“TIA would ask the USITC to continue to support a free-trade policy, and reject the USW´s effort to impose a protectionist policy.”

Tire Business staff report

June 18, 2009

Source: www.tirebusiness.com