US sets hearing date for duties on Thai TBR tire imports

Washington DC — The US International Trade Commission (USITC) will hold a hearing in October to review antidumping duties on the imports of truck and bus radial (TBR) tires from Thailand.

Scheduled for 9 Oct, the hearing will be the ‘final phase’ of the subject of investigation before a final decision is made, said the USITC in a statement 18 June.

The review will investigate preliminary rating duties determined by the US Commerce Department in May, which set a 2.35% rate for all tire makers, including Bridgestone Corp.

Prinx Chengshan Tire (Thailand) Co. is the only Thai-based manufacturer to have received no duty declaration.

According to data provided by the Commerce, the US imported over 10 million units of TBR tires from Thailand in 2022, up 40% compared to 7.2 units in 2021 and more than double the 4.7 million units reported in 2020.

Value-wise, the imports reached $1.46 billion in 2022, up 52% compared to $958 million in 2022, and 135% compared to $623 million in 2020.

The investigation is in response to a petition by US trade union United Steelworkers (USW) in October last year, which alleged dumping margins as high as 47.8% for TBR imports from Thailand.