US absent again from global tire standards talks

Brussels – US representatives failed to show up at a working committee meeting forthe harmonisation of international tire production and trade rules, under the Global Technical Regulations (GTR)..

Speaking to ERJ, a source close to the talks said the US side, although expected to take part, did not appear in the talks which took place in Brussels mid-February. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the US’s designated representative at the talks.

The GTR aims at freeing up tire trade globally and to harmonise regulations in order to reduce market-entry barriers and facilitate trade among participating countries.

The working committee, said the source, was an expert-level meeting from which the Americans abstained.

“A new round of talks, at higher levels, is scheduled for March and the Americans might take part in that,” he said adding that at this stage directors from administrations with political authority would discuss the various stages of GTR and its further expansion.

Phase 1 of GTR was adopted by the World Forum on Automotive Regulations of the UN on 14 Nov 2014 despite US abstaining from the vote.

Other countries, including China, South Korea, India, Canada and Russia as well as the EU, voted for the new harmonised regulations. The second phase of the standards will cover negotiations surrounding harmonised standards for commercial vehicles and light trucks tires.

The official reason given for the US abstention is “lack of resources”.

“My understanding is that they don’t have enough resources to invest in this project, which is fine. But why in the first place they got involved and suddenly at the last minute they realised they did not have enough resources?” said the contact.

Another source close to the negotiations and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), also confirmed to ERJ that addressing issues surrounding noise reduction and wet grip could be costly for the US tire industry and this could be the reason for US abstention.

The US is the second most important destination for EU tire exports and yet both sides have strong divergent approaches to regulations and market surveillance.

The EU is system is based on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 1958 agreement regulation, while the US one is based on regulations promulgated by the DOT-NHTSA.