US Trade Commission Decides Not to Impose Tariffs on Chinese Truck and Bus Tires

By a narrow margin of 3-2 votes, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that subsidized bus and truck tires which are imported from China are not damaging the local tire industry in the United States. Hence, the US would not be imposing anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese truck and bus tires.

While one of the six members of the panel did not participate in the voting, three of the five members who chose to vote, voted against the decision to impose tariffs in an unexpected outcome.

The U.S. Commerce Department had announced its decision on January 23 final subsidy rates ranging from 38.61 percent to 65.46 percent and anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 9 percent to 22.57 percent on such products.

In the 2015 financial year, 8.9 million units if truck and bus tires worth USD 1.07 billion were imported from China. The United Steelworkers union had launched the petition last year against the Chinese imports.

Speaking about the USITC’s decision, USW International President Leo Gerard said in a statement that the Commission had made a huge mistake as the size of the margins highlighted the serious nature of the problem.

Chinese manufacturers meanwhile appreciated the decision with a spokesman for the manufacturers, Walter Weller, senior vice president at China Manufacturers Alliance LLC, saying that the record profits for American tire manufacturers and their inability to satisfy the domestic demand for truck and bus tires meant that the Commission had made the right decision., said in a statement.

CAM is a subsidiary of Double Coin Holdings Inc, which was liable to pay countervailing duties of 20.98 percent and antidumping duties of 22.57 percent if the decision had been made to impose tariffs .

Wang Hejun, the head of the trade remedies and investigations division at China’s Commerce Ministry, also welcomed the decision. “China appreciates that the ITC could make a fair ruling that respects the objective facts,” Wang said in a statement on the ministry’s website on Thursday.