Tariffs on passenger and light truck tires made in China are here to stay.
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted at 11 a.m. on July 14, 2015, and affirmed both the anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations. This means the tariffs now are final, and will remain in place for at least five years. The cases will be reviewed in 2020.
The tariff rates, as set by the Department of Commerce (DOC) on June 12, 2015, stand. The ITC does not have the power to adjust the rates. Its role simply is to determine whether the production of these tires in China harms the U.S. market. To review those rates, read this: DOC affirms tariffs, increases rates for nearly all tire makers
The six members of the ITC were split in their decision. Dean Pinkert, Irving Williamson and Rhonda Schmidtlein voted in the affirmative. Commissioners Meredith Broadbent (chairman of the ITC), David Johanson and F. Scott Kieff voted in the negative.
In a brief notice the ITC says it upheld the tariffs assessed by the DOC, and also "made negative findings with respect to critical circumstances." Those "critical circumstances" are in fact, critical, because that's what determines when a tariff must be paid retroactively.
The ITC won't publish additional details about its vote until after it forwards its report — which is more like a legal brief — to the DOC. The deadline to forward that document to the DOC is July 27. Because the report and the ITC's decision is based on proprietary business information provided by the tire manufacturers, the ITC then will redact private details from the document and issue the public version of its report by Aug. 25, 2015. Here's a link of where to find it once it's ready: http://pubapps.usitc.gov/applications/publogs/qry_publication_loglist.asp.
Also read: Steelworkers happy with tariffs, and 'sick and tired' of China's approach
What the vote means:Tariffs are not retroactive
And for a review of all of MTD's coverage of the tariff decision, check out these stories:
One manufacturer's tariff reaction: stunned
Kenda will limit impact of duties,says Yang
Tariff won't slow Sentury's expansion in U.S.
Tariffs are not a major concern to Cooper
Pirelli responds to tire tariff decision
Why one tire maker's tariff now is retroactive
The fate of Chinese tire imports is in the hands of the ITC
There's tariff relief - but not for China
Dealers wait, weigh in, on tariffs
