U.S. government ups Chinese OTR tire duties

The U.S. Department of Commerce has increased antidumping duties levied on certain off-the-road (OTR) tires imported from China, affecting 31 Chinese manufacturers and exporters.

Duties will increase slightly, from 12.91 percent to 13.92 percent, after the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ordered the Department of Commerce to recalculate duties originally levied on the Chinese OTR imports in September 2008.

Those tariffs are a result of a 2007 petition filed by Titan International and United Steelworkers (USW).

They won that petition on antidumping and countervailing duties, resulting in the 12.91 percent rate. However in 2010, the CIT ordered a recalculation that will now apply retrospectively from March 23, 2015.

The new rates apply to 31 Chinese OTR manufacturers and importers that were listed as “separate rate.” Details of those companies are on the Federal Register.

A history of countervailing petitions

Titan has not always had success with antidumping petitions targeting Chinese OTR imports. Earlier this year the company indicated it would consider suing tire importers after the U.S International Trade Commission (USITC) dropped investigations into the country's OTR tire importing practices.

The USITC confirmed it would investigate claims against Sri Lankan and Indian OTR imports but found that “imports of these products from China are negligible.”

Both Titan and co-petitioner USW expressed disappointment at the decision. “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,” USW International President Leo W. Gerard said at the time.

Countervailing duties do change on occasion; in April, the Department of Commerce lowered the tariffs on certain other pneumatic OTR tires imported from China after an administrative review, with six importers having margins of between 86.78 and 99.36 percent dropped to between 65.33 and 79.86 percent.

Tagged: antidumping

U.S. government ups Chinese OTR tire duties