Tariffs on truck and bus tires imported into the U.S. from China will remain in effect after the completion of a five-year review of the case.
The four commissioners with the International Trade Commission (ITC) voted 3-1 to continue to impose tariffs. The vote confirms that if the existing anti-dumping and countervailing orders were revoked it would likely result in the domestic tire industry’s injury “within a reasonably foreseeable time.”
Commissioner David Johanson voted against the ruling, while commissioners Amy Karpel, Rhonda Schmidtlein and Jason Kearns voted in the affirmative.
These tariffs were initially imposed in January 2019, and though each year these investigations are eligible for administrative reviews, the Department of Commerce (DOC) noted that all of its reviews have been rescinded, thus this required review at the five-year mark is the first of its kind for truck tires from China.
This case has been particularly unusual from the outset — at least when compared to others in the tire industry — because in 2017, the DOC initially did order tariffs on these products. However, as the case continued through its regular stream and two-agency review, the ITC voted against imposing the duties. That decision ultimately was overturned in late 2018 when the United Steelworkers union took the case to the U.S. Court of International Trade for reconsideration. Thus, the ITC’s new determination came in early 2019.
But that back-and-forth in 2018 caused a noticeable change in the import trends. Here’s a look at the volume figures the DOC tracked both before, during and since the tariffs were imposed. (The original petition seeking tariffs on these tires was filed in 2015.)
2015: 8.90 million
2016: 7.57 million
2017: 6.45 million
2018: 9.22 million
2019: 3.24 million
2020: 1.33 million
2021: 1.10 million
2022: 1.76 million
“Import levels rose to levels exceeding pre-petition levels in 2018,” the DOC notes, adding that since the tariffs were imposed in February 2019, “imports of truck and bus tires from China have substantially declined and have remained at less than 20% of pre-petition volumes from 2015.”
Given that trend, “Commerce determines that dumping would be likely to continue or recur if the order were revoked.” And ultimately, enough of the commissioners from the ITC agreed.
The DOC determined that without a tariff order, tires likely would be dumped at margins of up to 22.57%.
Countervailing duties — those designed to offset subsidies given to companies in China — will range from 23.92% for Double Coin Holdings Ltd. to 66.28% for Guizhou Tyre Import and Export Co. Ltd. The “all others” rate for other tiremakers is 45.10%.
