ITC to vote on USW's Chinese tyre petition today

ERJ staff report (R&PN)

Washington DC -- The US International Trade Commission will vote at 11 a.m. local time (5pm in Frankfurt) today on whether to grant the United Steelworkers' petition to establish a quota on Chinese passenger and light truck tyre imports. The vote will be open to the public and the media.

The USW petitioned the ITC April 20 under Section 421 of the US Trade Act, which allows US industries and workers to obtain product-specific import relief whenever Chinese imports increase sharply. The union seeks a three-year quota on Chinese tyres beginning at 21 million the first year and increasing by 5-percent increments over the next two years.

Eight US tyre plants have closed or will close by the end of this year, costing more than 8000 tyre workers their jobs, because of Chinese import competition, USW International President Leo Gerard claimed June 2 in testimony before the ITC. Gerard was supported by the testimony of 10 members of the US Senate and House of Representatives, most of whom have or had tyre manufacturing facilities in their states or districts.

However, major US tyre dealers and distributors said US tyre makers no longer manufacture the low-cost tyres China imports, which means that Chinese producers do not directly compete with US tyre makers. All a quota would do, they claimed, is create a huge gap in tyre supplies that domestic manufacturers are unwilling or unequipped to fill.

If the ITC finds that Chinese imports are disrupting the U.S. tyre market, it will vote June 29 on the remedy and send its report to President Obama on July 9.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)

Press release from USW