UK government advised to increase duties on Chinese truck tire imports

London – The UK government has been advised to raise duties on imported truck and bus tires from China to protect the domestic retreading industry.

Following a recent review of anti-dumping and countervailing measures on Chinese truck tire imports, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has suggested increasing the duties for “the majority of Chinese tire exporters.”

In its initial findings, the TRA recommended new combined anti-dumping and countervailing duty rates, ranging from £10.03 to £110.11 per tire.

South Korea's Hankook Group, which took part in the review, would face the lower rate of £10.03 per tire, while the exporters that did not cooperate would pay the residual rate of £110.11 per tire, TRA added.

The TRA highlighted that the UK’s retreading sector, which competes against new tire imports, contributes £230 million (€272 million) to the economy each year and sustains 5,500 jobs.

The authority noted that many tires imported from China have historically been of lower quality and are typically "single-use" products, making them unsuitable for retreading.

“If the measures were removed, it is likely that imports of these lower quality tires would increase and cause injury to UK industry,” it added.

Moreover, the increased import of ‘non-retreadable’ tires would have adverse environmental impact, reducing the number of tires recycled through retreading processes.

The current duty rates are based on EU trade measures that were incorporated into the UK law post-Brexit.

The TRA is now reassessing each of these measures to ensure they align with the UK's specific needs.